Kamen Rider Cross-Z: Future Imperfect
by WarmindMK74
Summary: The New World was created. But...not exactly the way anyone would have thought. Stuck in a world full of endless war, and the loss of any semblance of technology, new legends will be birthed, ancient evil will re-emerge and the desperate struggle to prevent the destruction of this world will be determined. Among other things.
1. The Muscle in Brigid

**AN: Hey guys; first story here. Hoping you guys like it. Give me some feedback; I wanna make this story as good as possible. Though obviously, I'm going to be working on my own schedule. So expect some infrequent updates on chapters. Anyways on with the show. **

**Only requirements (or recommendations to be honest) here is that you know the story of both Fire Emblem Three Heroes and Kamen Rider Build up until the finale. Also spoilers for Build's finale and some of Three Houses's War Phase.**

**(9/20/20): Yeesh...it's been a while since I came back to the prologue. Hello for those of you new to the story, or for those of you returning. I'm just here to give a warning out there that I forgot in the summary and wanted to put this in the first chapter. That way for those of you believe that by all regards you aren't interested in that type of fic, you can back out now. Anyways; this story will indeed deviate from the main Three Houses story. Not directly at first however; some events from the War Phase will happen. However, considering how the presence of Build and the other Riders, it'll start to drastically effect the more medieval style of Fodlan itself. So, yeah...**

**Tl;dr: This story will be an AU, but some events from the game will still happen. **

—

Normal Text = Well, the story.

(_Italics) = _Time skips / Places

[_**Kakusei!] **_= Build/ Sclash Driver

_Italics _= Thoughts/ Mumblings/ Dreams / Letters

_"Hello!"_ = Flashbacks/Recordings

—

Nothing to see. Nothing to hear or touch.

Banjou Ryuga was unconscious.

He remembered Sento and Evol fighting. Him, inside both. Which was...a very strange thing to say the least. Then again, his group consisting of a framed fugitive, a mad scientist turned savior of love and peace, a farmer of all things, and the former leader of the Faust organization himself were always weird. Add in the being who destroyed Mars's people, a bracelet who was said being's sister, and a whole lot more things. If he would've told someone about all that, at least to him, he'd be deemed insane.

But now wasn't the time to think that.

Now was the time to hope to himself that they survived the merging of worlds.

Even though he was unconscious, he could faintly feel Sento's presence, trying to grab any hope of bringing Banjou with him. He felt Sento getting farther and farther away from him, and he so desperately wanted to reach him. Only to realize that he can't exactly move any of his muscles. "Sento!" He tried to scream, but was only able to do so mentally.

"Sento! SENTO!"

—

Soft ground. The sun beating down on the beaches.

A child, looking no older than 11 walked upon the shores. Her lavender hair flowed from her running alongside the silky sand. Seagulls chirped in the distance as the young child was laughing, enjoying her time along the shoreline. Not too far away, a man in his forties walked along the shoreline, following the girl, smiling.

"Petra, slow down will you!" He shouted toward the girl, who paid no mind to what seemed to be her father...that was until she tripped. Onto Banjou's body, which promptly woke up a tiny little blue and gold device, looking strangely like a dragon. It promptly flew toward Petra, screeching as the father pulled out his sword in worry for his little child.

"Petra, stay back!" He shouted, as the little dragon screeched once more, Petra seemingly ignoring her father's demands, the dragon landing in her newly opened palms.

"Dad...he is...nice." She stuttered, as she stared at the dragon, it seemingly giving a tiny screech in reaction. She then seemingly noticed a couple buttons on said dragon, seemingly just there. The father seemingly noticed this, trying to run toward her, as Petra simply pressed the red button on the dragon.

[_**Kakusei!]**_

Soon enough, she felt herself...more powerful. Much more...happy. More happy than she would've been at the moment. At the same time, she also felt herself feel a little stronger, almost like she had inhaled some type of magical aroma. It was...scary to her, to say the least, as she jumped, the dragon flying away from Petra's hands back into the air.

"Petra!" The dad shouted toward the girl, rushing toward her, as said girl ended up backing away from the dragon, it floating to a stirring Banjou, who slowly woke from his knocking out, looking around in absolute confusion. Obviously, the man sent the sword very close toward Banjou's neck in a bit of caution.

"Make any sudden moves, and your head comes off, Fódlander!" He warned Banjou, Petra and the Cross-Z Dragon device rushing toward her dad.

"Daddy, stop! He's nice!" She shouted toward her dad, tugging at his non-armed hand, the man simply sighing as he looked toward the foreign man, who looked wildly confused to say the least.

"The hell is a Fodlan?" Banjou would asking him, as the dragon landed onto his shoulder, Petra looking in awe at what she assumed was the dragon's owner of some degree.

The father gave a heavy sigh, looking toward Banjou before lowering his sword, raising his hand instead. "My name is Prince Alief Macneary of Brigid. This is my daughter, Petra."

Petra simply waved a little hello, a smile on her face, as Banjou waving back.

"We're gonna need as much men as we can. The king recently invaded Adrestian territory; expand Brigid's influences in the region. But, having more men always will help in the case that the invasion failed. Especially with the troubling rumors circling around." He told Banjou, who promptly sighed and nodded, the prince assuming that meant he'd join them.

"_Of course I get pulled into this after Evolto._" Banjou told himself, as the prince and daughter walked alongside the beach, Banjou reluctantly following, mumbling a "_Damn you, Evolto_."

"What do I get out of this?" Banjou asked the prince, for which Alief simply chuckled.

"Depends; what do you want, foreigner? Money? Territory? The favor of my father? Maybe blessings from the damn Church of Seiros themselves?" He asked the dragon Rider, laughing seemingly at the mention of the Church, Petra looking quite embarrassed to say the least.

"How about where the hell am I?" Banjou blurted Out, leading the prince to turn around in confusion.

"Did you drink last night?" The prince asked, for which Banjou simply tilted his head in confusion. "You're in Brigid." Banjou continued to give him a look of absolute confusion, for which the prince continued on. "What foreigner...you get lost? Get drunk? Bah, I'm sure my father can be more understanding to you than me. Then again, there was that storm last night. Maybe it could have to do with…"

Banjou simply sighed and thought while ignoring the Prince's ramblings, as the group walked toward what would inevitably be the beginning of a long and forced meeting with this 'King Of Brigid', whoever he was. "_Sento, when you told me we were creating a new world, a crazy man with some sword and a young girl with weird hair was not the first thing I thought of...damn it Sento, where the hell did you go!"_

He was promptly interrupted by Petra, who seemingly nudged on Banjou's leg.

"What's your name, Mister?" She asked the Rider, who looked down, the faintest of smiles on his face.

"My name is Banjou Ryuga, kid." He informed the purpled-haired girl, who promptly gave a bright smile.

"Do you believe in the Spirits, mister Banjo?" Petra asked him, seemingly mispronouncing Banjou's name, leading Banjou to chuckle a little.

"The spirits?" He asked. "No...not exactly. Maybe you...could teach me."

Petra ended being ecstatic at the thought of teaching a foreigner Brigid's culture.

Soon enough, though, what seemed to be an armored soldier walked up to the Prince in a hurry, clutching his lance.

"Report." Alief said curtly, the soldier looking...absolutely terrified.

"Sir, we've confirmed...the invasion in Oche and Neuville failed. The Adrestian Empire's already begun plans to invade Brigid and Dagda."

—-

(_2 weeks later…)_

Flames...terror.

A war was going on and Brigid was losing badly.

A young Petra rushed toward the windows of one of the large towers, noticing out of one of the windows that the fighting that was going on, the footsteps of an approaching army being heard above the shouts and clanks of swords and axes in the fighting. The main army of the Adrestian Empire specifically. They had been, for days, pushing the armies of Brigid further and further. And the army who had so valiantly invaded the shores of the Empire? Gone in a flash. Barely anyone was left to fight their battles, Brigid's generals either defected or dead. And now the Fodlanders' armies were right on the doorstep, marching straight into the castle. Her home.

She feared the worst. What would happen to her? Death? Execution? Humiliation? Sold as slaves even? With the Fodlanders, anything was possible. However, comfort came in the form of a hand touching her shoulder. Banjou's hand specifically.

"Petra...your father's getting the remnants of his army together. Told me to make sure you were safe." He told her, leaning down to match the young child's height, the Cross-Z Dragon device screeching as it rested on his shoulder.

"I should be helping him! He needs everyone he…" Petra began yelling, her eyes getting watery. She wanted to defend her homeland so bad. Yet...she was 11. She was a child who by all regards shouldn't be sent out to war.

Soon enough, Banjou had simply grabbed onto Petra's hand, the sight of a Wyvern Rider seen through the window, Banjou and Petra having to avoid an arrow aiming for Banjou's head, as it joined its brethren in the sky, with Banjou having Petra in front of her so he could protect her. The sounds and screams of the deceased filled Petra's mind as the two ran through a once luxiorus courtyard filled with Brigid's unique nature, now resorted to barricades and defenses. They were going to fight to the last man.

Inside the palace, two men, seemingly in full fledged armor were seen surrounding the table, amid the chaos of soldiers moving to and fro the castle, setting up last minute defenses as the Adrestians closed in. They were vehemently arguing, probably about whether surrender was still an option at this point or not, their yelling echoing around the chambers.

"Damn it, Alief, we could've saved soldiers for the damn capital!" The King shouted, seemingly throwing his hands up. "Our best chance for Brigid's survival is to surrender the entirety of our land to the Empire. That way, our surviving family can live in peace."

"And threaten the survival of our independence? Independence that we've kept for hundreds of years? Father, we must fight for the survival of our people; our culture!" He shouted, Petra hiding behind Banjou as Alief spoke to the aging king.

"I'm not going to risk the kingdom our families built up for hundreds of years...only to be snuffed away by some belligerent nobles who think they're above us!" Alief Yelled. "Who's with me!"

Some of the men around him Yelled with him, the group storming toward the front of the castle doors, the valiant knights there barely putting up a defense, as the Adrestians attempted to push through the blockade, arrows and flame spells launched back and forth.

"Alief, no!" He shouted, as Alief ignored his father's pleas, and stormed toward the group, as an arrow found its way straight through his chest, the knights behind him continuing to charge in front, seemingly acting as a shield to protect said prince, Petra looking, on, horrified at seeing her dad with said arrow, his life seemingly fleeting before their eyes.

Alief simply gave one last look toward Petra, mouthing two simple words. Words that the king would remember. And try to honor for the rest of his days. And so would Banjou. Because it was directed at him, Alief's eyes locking with Banjou's own.

Protect Petra.

With that, the prince dropped to the ground, as the blockade began to crumble, as more Adrestians crowded at the palace gates, about to break through, the sound of the hooves of horses heard marching on, the cavalry of the Adrestian army most likely willing to lead the charge inside.

Banjou simply looked toward the crumbling group, thinking about something before making his way toward the armory, Petra and the King following suit, two of his knights covering him from behind. The armory seemed mostly empty...except for what he saw inside a chest, which he widened his eyes at.

Two devices laid on a nearby table. One seemingly was a small red and silver device, enough for two cylinders to fit in. On its side, a crank was seen, probably to activate whatever it was. The second device was completely different, being more of a sky blue color with only room for one cylinder-like object. There was also what seemed to be some type of tool used to push the cylinder, and a storage device on its right side. Overall, it looked very foreign...and the king knew that it didn't look like anything from Fódlan.

"The Build And Sclash Drivers!" He shouted, the king and his granddaughter following in confusion. "Haha!"

"The...what?" The king asked him, though quickly dismissed it due to their current predicament. "We found them in the courtyard a couple weeks ago. Damaged enough, but.." he responded, not even getting to finish as Banjou immediately attached the Driver to his waist.

_[_**_SCLASH DRIVER!_**_]_

He then pulled out two things from the pocket of his temporary leather stockings, noticing both some type of juice that had the words 'Dragon Jelly' on its label and one of those cylinder- like objects that would fit into either one of the devices. He simply looked toward the Brigidian royalty, Petra looking at him, fearful of Banjou suffering the same fate as her father. The king seemingly was more interested in what exactly Banjou was even wearing...and whether it could've been something from illegal places.

"Don't worry Petra; I'll come back for you once these guys are dealt with.." He told her, as he sighed, placing the juice-like object upside down, slamming it into the open section of the Sclash Driver, the guards letting him out of the armory.

_[__**Dragon Jelly!**__]_

A tune accompanied it, as he began walking out of the area, straight into the battle itself, smiling.

"...Henshin." He shouted somewhat enthusiastically, slamming the tool-like part of the belt onto the Dragon Jelly.

_[__**Tsubureru! Nagareru! Afurederu! Dragon in Cross-Z Charge! BRRRRAAA!**__]_

—-

(_10 years later…._)

Petra simply sighed, thinking about all of it, staring toward her sword as the boat creaked into Adrestian territory, as a soldier carried a small duffel bag of items. "What happened to you Banjou?" She would whisper to herself. "Why did you do that?"

She was interrupted in her thoughts by the sound of a bell, signifying that they were arriving on the shores of Nuvelle. A place whose importance made Petra hurt on the inside, especially now.

"Ma'am...where exactly are we going with this?" The knight asked her, for which she looked out toward the shore, a sad smile on her face, as she knew exactly where she was going.

"...we're going to visit an old friend."


	2. Draconic Awakening

**AN: Hey guys; second chapter is here and ready to go. Fixed a small issue involving me calling Dagda 'Devya' for some reason. Beyond that, thanks for the favorites and follows! And to those that reviewed; thanks for the reviews so far. Nice to see that my story so far is intriguing you. And to those of you just scrolling by, looking to see what's up with this fic...thanks for giving it a chance. :) Anyways, on with the story. And I completely forgot…**

**Disclaimer: Kamen Rider, nor Fire Emblem Three Houses belong to me. Neither are any of the characters. They belong specifically to their respective companies.**

**Oh, and feedback is always appreciated!**

—

_(Nuville, Adrestian Empire)_

Seagulls chirping. The chatter of voices among the masses of the town.

Petra walked out of the docks, staring out toward the small coastal city. The flags of the Adrestian Empire flew valiantly against the wind and the waves, the sun beaming down onto the city. At one point, this was the sight of a brutal conflict between her people and the Adrestian garrison here, lead by their duke.

Now, it was nothing more than a small footnote in a long and bloody conflict. A conflict that spanned the whole of Fodlan, and Brigid indirectly for the time being. A conflict which stemmed from...an academy, of all things. One which was now but a distant memory.

"Ma'am." The soldier with the duffle bag said, once again interrupting Petra's thoughts. "Is this bag supposed to be...talking, ma'am?"

Petra would then hear a muffled sound within the bag. She knew what it was. It was the only reminder she had of Banjou since he said those words to her. One that thankfully wasn't found by the Empire.

The other reminder was in her pocket.

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure that it's safe at all times." She had told the knight as she brushed her lavender hair, for which he simply nodded.

"Now...where are you, Banjou?" Petra whispered to herself, staring around the area. She noticed the Imperial security around the town seemed quite small compared to other cities she visited. It was...strange to say the least. She noticed that the citizens there were more ragged outfits, though some she could account for possibly being workers.

Not everyone though could be excused. Especially those she saw begging for...well, money.

"This must be what happens to the poor…" Petra mumbled to herself, staring around the area as she noticed the normal rabble associated with a town. The poor and the upper class. The lucky and the unlucky.

It seemed almost nothing had changed between her arrival here back when she was but a lowly student at Garreg Mach, to now, with Edelgard's ascension and takeover of the Empire itself.

She sighed, thinking of potential options, as she looked toward her knight.

"Soldier...would you happen to know where I could hear about anything...local? Perhaps some type of...what did Dorothea call it back then...rumor?" Petra asked him, for which he nervously hauled the duffle bag back.

"Ma'am...there might be a tavern here that might have rumors." He told her, for which she nodded and chuckled.

"At ease; no need to be demoralized. Especially at a time like this." Petra stated toward the soldier, who promptly straightened up and seemingly followed Petra into the city. It seemed to resemble a strange decor that seemed to resemble more of the slums, similar to what she had seen when traveling around Brigid with her father. Of course...times had changed.

Eventually, as she travelled among the streets, she kept an ear open for anything that could've had to do with Banjou. It was mostly just little rumours surrounding the local town, any gossip about the locals. The war, something which Petra knew would inevitably pull her in via Edelgard. Or possibly Claude too. Or even the Church. Eventually ending up killing her former classmates no matter who she joins. Something that she didn't want to think about, as she pushed the war into the back of her mind.

Though, something eventually perked up in her ears. As she headed toward the outskirts of the town, she began hearing rumors.

One of a hooded warrior, armed with nothing more than his fists, who seemingly had saved the lives of refugees fleeing from the coming war in the border towns to the north. Petra smiled, seemingly finally getting a lead. She turned to the soldier, a bright smile on her face. One she hadn't had since the academy.

"Soldier, I would like you to gather a small garrison of soldiers. We have a location." she told the knight, who nodded toward her. "And…keep the bag here. I do believe we don't have to hide the important materials no longer."

The knight nodded, running as best as he can back, as Petra kneeled down toward the bag, opening it, as a familiar device screeched its way out, landing on Petra's shoulder. WIth it, she pulled out the cylinder-like device that Banjou had before, alongside what seemed to be what Banjou referred to as the 'Build Driver'.

"What exactly does this even do?" she whispered to herself, as the Cross-Z Dragon device screeched once more, passerbys giving weird looks toward Petra.

"Maybe you could give me information about Banjou's location…" Petra whispered, tucking herself away in an alleyway, as the dragon moved itself in front of her.

"What do you know about Banjou Ryuga, dragon?" Petra whispered toward it, as it seemingly scanned her, before popping up some type of screen, it leading to Petra jumping and scurrying back in fear. She squinted her eyes at the words seen on screen. They weren't about Banjou...they were about her.

_Name: Petra Macnaery_

_Age : 21_

_Relationship to Kamen Rider Cross-Z (real name: Ryuga Banjou/ Banjou Ryuga): Protect at all costs._

_Hazard Level: 3.00 (as of current date #CORRUPTED#)_

_Personal Notes: Take notice of Hazard Level. Investigate potential raising in Hazard Level and the possible presence of Nebula Gas. Search for Sento Kiryu. May have answers. _

_WARNING: PREVENT FROM REACHING HAZARD LEVEL 5. _

All this...confused Petra to say the least. First, the obvious. Why specifically she was being monitored by the dragon. She had...a lot of questions about everything else to say the least about everything.

"_Did my father know about this? Did Banjou do this? Sento Kiryu? What does it mean, Hazard Level? And more importantly, why shouldn't it go over five if I am already at three?" _were the thoughts that ran through Petra's mind among others, as the clamoring of feet forced the Cross-Z dragon to shut off its screen, screeching back to Petra, as the knight came back, a small militia's worth of civilians in ragged armor surrounding them.

"My lady, your garrison has been created. I do apologize; many of the Adrestian soldiers refused to support; they had orders to defend the town from any invasion by the Kingdom of Faerghus." The knight claimed, as Petra nodded her head. "We had also procured you a horse for usage."

Petra simply nodded, but a single thought clouded her mind after the seemingly confusing information she had just received.

"_I need to find Banjou."_

_—_

_(2 hours later, Outskirts of Arundel)_

"Lady Petra, from our scouts, this was the last location the Warrior was in." The knight next to her stated, as the day began to dawn on the group.

They had seemingly traveled for hours on end, finally arriving outside of Arundel, where the last sighting of this mysterious warrior was. A forest surrounded them, with its thick trees and various bushes, a dirt path ahead. Petra was at this point keen on hoping that this person was who she thought was her former protector. The dragon screeching at them and nudging its body in certain directions certainly helped. If confusing to the various other people following the group.

Around the group, there was nothing but a burning caravan. It didn't help with the flames, and what seemed to be no bodies. Meaning that something took them away.

"Search the area. Tell me if you find anybody who may be still breathing." Petra told them, getting off her horse, as the group scattering around to search for any traces.

Either of this mysterious warrior, or what caused this entire situation in the first place.

As they did, Petra clutched onto the driver, seemingly using her newly found ally to search for him. Though...she felt something else. Like she was being...watched.

Turning around, she noticed what seemed to be eyes piercing her from the darkness. The bushes.

And then? They pounced.

"Ambush!" One of the knight absolutes in surprise, before receiving an arrow through the skull, bandits rushing down from around the forest.

Petra ducked, narrowly avoiding a dagger, noticing that a thief of all people was trying to throw them straight in her direction. She sighed, pulling the dagger right out of the wooden cart for which it stuck to, before throwing it right back at the thief, who in turn earned himself a dagger straight through his throat.

"I really dislike these types of people…" Petra mumbled, as she pulled out her sword, throwing the Build Driver back as she stabbed the bandit behind her in the gut, the Build Driver conveniently dropping onto the ground, thankfully not too damaged.

She could hear the dragon screeching and the sound of...flames? She would investigate this later. Once her life wasn't at stake.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened, as she was blindsided and tackled to the ground by a hefty bandit wielding an axe, Petra dropping to the floor, both her sword and the Build Driver scattering near her.

"Oh; now this I didn't expect; boys, we've got ourselves an Adrestian General! And the Princess of Brigid herself at that!" The bandit yelled, small amounts of cheers all around, the group seemingly battling the Militia. And winning at that, surprisingly.

"You'll surely pay a damn hefty price of your head from the Kingdom themselves!" He shouted, about to wield his axe to cleave Petra...until someone unexpected showed up.

Seemingly wielding steel gauntlets, and a ragged beige hood over him, the unknown person seemingly punched the bandit hard into his chest, causing the bandit to recoil a bit in reaction, dropping to the ground.

"It's the warrior! Get him!" One of them yelled, the group seemingly attempting to redirect their attention from the remaining knights and Petra toward whoever this masked figure was. Petra was...awed, to say the least. Because she knew who this was. And she knew that this figure was doing what he had done before.

Protecting her at all costs.

"Banjou.." she whispered in absolute relief. If this wasn't a life or death situation, she would've cried.

Soon, the Cross-Z Dragon device zoomed up to the masked figure, the figure being shown the same screen Petra saw earlier, as the figure sighed heavily before turning around to her, Petra widening her eyes, a big smile on her face.

The man under the mask simply chuckled, taking off his hood to reveal himself as the veteran himself, Banjou Ryuga. He smilies under the hood, before staring at the bandits ahead, who were rushing toward him. He nudged the dragon in the direction of Petra, specifically toward the Build Driver. He sighed afterwards. "I'll explain later. Just...trust the dragon."

It was the strangest thing to say, especially due to what Petra had ended up facing over the past ten years.

Nonetheless, as the dragon roared itself toward her, Banjou smiled, putting his hands up, ready for a fight.

"I'm feeling unbeatable at this moment!" Banjou shouted, seemingly feeling exhilarated, as he charged at the group of bandits.

Which left Petra with the big bad bandit as he began to stir awake from the punch.

However, the dragon did end up helping out a bit, grabbing the Build Driver with its very small talons, placing it in Petra's hands, before unexpectedly compacting itself, landing in Petra's other hand.

She looked toward the cylinder-like object, noticing that the dragon had some type of place to have such cylinder, shaking it to see if it did anything. Petra felt a familiar feeling; one she hadn't had since first touching the dragon before.

"_Maybe this has to do with that Hazard Level thing? Maybe?"_ She whispered, turning the bottle around, before placing it in the dragon device.

_[__**Wake Up!]**_

"I'm already awake though.." Petra whispered to herself, attaching the Build Driver to her waist. She seemingly closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how Banjou did his...transformation, as she placed the new Dragon device into the Build Driver's open slots.

_**[Cross-Z Dragon!]**_

She opened her eyes, noticing Banjou seemingly beating the absolute hell out of the bandits, his punches knocking the bandits down. Some seemed dead, most seemed unconscious. She would be wondering how Banjou could've done soemthing like that against bandits armed with leather and iron armor.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that, as she saw the bandit starting to grab his axe, trying to get up.

She looked toward the crank, remembering how Banjou did a similar thing with the Sclash Driver years before, as she began turning it, nervously looking around as the belt seemingly began forming armor around , creating armor on the front and back of her. She was starting to regret the idea of even going through this, as she let go of the crank, standing still from the armor.

_[__**Are You Ready?]**_

She looked around for wherever the voice was coming from, as she looked toward Banjou for answers.

And then she did something she hadn't thought she'd be doing. She answered the voice

"I...guess I am ready." Petra replied, confused as the armor combined onto her body, forming around her.

_**[Wake Up Burning! Get Cross-Z Dragon; Yeah!]**_

Banjou looked on in a bit of excitement the transformation...but there also a little bit of fear in his face. Mostly for...personal reasons.

Meanwhile, as the bandit got up, he got his axe, laughing at the transformed Kamen Rider Cross-Z.

"Oh; now this got interesting!" The bandit shouted, rushing at Cross-Z with his axe, said Rider seemingly very very confused at this new form. However...instinct took over, as she seemingly ducked underneath the axe swing aimed to behead her, and instead slammed a punch straight into the big bandit's stomach, sending him flying back toward Banjou, who noticed such and seemingly close-lined him to the ground, the steel gauntlets making contact with the bandits's face, knocking him cold onto the ground.

The two would seemingly look to each other, as they noticed the small amount of bandits who were somehow not stupid enough to charge head-first into the situation retreating.

And then an arrow seemingly flew in their direction, slamming into Cross-Z's back, it being sent by the young woman behind her, who had purple hair and a bow aimed right for Cross-Z. She promptly freaked out and fainted, Banjou seemingly sighing, walking past the Rider to pick up the woman.

Cross-Z tore off the Build Driver as she got up, her armor disappearing, as Petra seemingly looked at the Driver, then back at Banjou and the unconscious body of the archer who most likely accidentally shot her.

"Someone you know?" Banjou asked bluntly, for which Petra simply nodded.

"Her name is Bernadetta." She simply states, Banjou simply nodding her head and mouthing the name to remember it.

"Anyways Banjou...what was all this?." she simply stated toward him, holding both the Build Driver, and the compacted Cross-Z Device, as Banjou simply looked to both of them, sighing. "Why did that dragon's message mention me?"

"Alright. I'll explain. But first..." he began, Petra seemingly listening in. What he said next would cause Petra to immediately regret this. "...you tell me why you joined the same Empire that took your father's life."

You could swear Petra's life nearly disappeared before her eyes at that realization, as she sighed heavily enough, to the point where someone would have probably heard it from the city proper.

"For now though…" he stated, seemingly switching the subject around to avoid any potential awkwardness until they got somewhere safe. "Looks like you and your friend need somewhere to stay." he stated, staring out toward where his place probably was, as he began walking in that direction.

"That...would be best." She stated, walking with Banjou away from the sight. As she did, she somberly looked toward the dead bodies of her allies, the knights who distracted the majority of bandits whilst she had seemingly fought their leader.

This was gonna be a long road ahead for her. To say the least.


	3. Past Remembered

**AN: So...yeah. Did not expect this amount of praise, to be honest, especially for my first story. I again thank you so much for these favorites and follows, alongside those of you who just honestly came by and just viewed it. I appreciate that you even gave me this opportunity. In case you're wondering why this chapter is much longer is due to my own reevaluation of what I've written so far. Felt it was...too short for a chapter. That and I honestly feel that I rushed Chapter so...this is me taking my time to write something more. Anyways, I did warn you guys about the infrequent uploads, right? Just, keep watch if this story pops up. Anyways, sorry about the long author's note. Just wanted to get some things . Anyhow, enjoy Chapter 3 of Future Imperfect!**

**Oh, also, this story will go up on AO3 as well once Chapter 4 is sent here.**

**Some new things you might need to know…**

* * *

Chilling weather. The march of boots.

Banjou, with the unconscious Bernadetta in his hands, walked alongside Petra, the two of them walking together in the dawning of the sun, the sound of nocturnal beings being heard beginning to wake up around them. Their only light came in the form of the small trail of fire the Cross-Z Dragon left behind, allowing the group to keep track of where to go from the site back to Nuvelle.

"So, Banjou…" Petra began the conversation, being very awkward around the situation between the two. "You...became a vigilante for the past decade?"

"Yeah..don't want to exactly want to talk about it right now." Banjou told her, yawning loudly as Petra chuckled, Banjou quickly turning to her.

"What?" He asked somewhat annoyed toward the Brigidian princess, for which said woman stifled her laugh, the two seemingly seeing a light up ahead.

"I swear if it's more bandits…" he whispered, walking ahead...and then noticing their clothes. Ragged, torn, seemingly with a whole bunch of various items up onto a bunch of horses. The group weren't bandits by the looks of it. And with the various different pots, pans, and clothes up on their horses? They were clearly refugees.

They looked toward Petra with a small bit of scorn, the Brigid princess seemingly cringing a little bit, as she knelt down in front of one of the refugees. A small boy, specifically.

"Are you okay, little one?" Petra asked the boy, for which he was about to speak, only for what they guessed was the mother of the child to grab the kid by the arm, pulling her away from Petra, as she narrowed her eyes toward the Brigidian princess. She then turned to Banjou, who seemingly was a little bit sympathetic towards Petra's predicament, as the mother simply faced the child toward her.

"Sweetie, people like them lead to us having to move from our house." She stated toward the child, who simply nodded as the mother gave the stink eye toward Petra, who seemingly stared back toward the child, as the two caught up with the rest of the refugees.

Once they were out of sight, Petra sighed the heaviest sigh she had done in her years, as she looked toward where the caravan was going.

"If only this war would end sooner." She told herself out loud, Banjou giving an incredulous look toward the princess.

"You do know that your empress started the war, right?" he asked her. "The same empire who destroyed Brigid and your…"

"You have no say in that. Not while you...you..." Petra interrupted him, as Banjou simply stared toward her, seeing that she was beginning to crack, tears threatening to run down her cheek, as she stomped away, Banjou simply lowering his head, while following her.

"_Sento, if only you were here...you'd know how to deal with emotions."_ he thought, sighing, as he rushed after her.

* * *

_(Outskirts of Nuvelle)_

The two (well, three, counting the unconscious body) reached the coastal town once more, as another dirt path was leading up toward a hill.

"This seems like an...obvious place for a hideout." Petra commented, staring towards the building ahead.

"Not according to the authorities. They seemed to be more stupider than the Guardians back in Touto…" Banjou said to Petra, mumbling the last part.

Petra seemingly noticed the various...intricacies of the house. It looked modest enough, seemingly one floor, and having more than one room. At least some type of bedroom and living space, perhaps. She was always used to the castle back in Brigid, or her room in Garreg Mach. Those times were long gone however…

Banjou fiddled for the key into the house, Petra noticing the decent view of the coastal city. And in the far distance, beyond the horizon was her home. The home for which she now desperately wished wasn't involved in all this. A home that she wanted to go back to.

Opening the door, the first thing Petra noticed was the smell, as she covered her nose. It was clear that Banjou...wasn't the cleanest individual in Fodlan, to say the least. She had nearly had the thought to throw up from the smell, as she had wished someone used Elwind to waft the smell out of the room.

Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as certain other people had.

"I'm surprised that the smell hasn't woken your unconscious friend." Banjou stated, as he placed Bernadetta in a seperate room on a bed, before walking back into the living room.

"I'd want to know where you got such comfortable living." Petra told Banjou a bit annoyingly, though being careful with her words as to not offend him.

"Best explantation; last people who were here were some group of bandits who tried to hide some girl; don't know whether they work with the Empire, but I beat them to kingdom come. Apparently, the girl was part of the Church; real quiet girl too. Said something along the lines of that she had to meet back with some guy named "Sentence". Don't know who would name someone like that, but.." he told Petra, seemingly preparing to...cook something.

Petra was a little nervous to say the least. For more certain reasons.

As he did start to cook, he allowed the Cross-Z dragon device to breath its fire underneath the pan on its metal stand, allowing it to cook what seemed to be...something, as he walked over to Petra, sitting down onto one of the makeshift beds in the room, most likely left over from the previous occupiers, as he looked straight toward Petra.

"So?" He asked, expecting Petra to yell at him like he thought she was going to earlier. Except...she didn't.

She instead started crying. Tears flew down her face, as she looked up to Banjou.

"I...I thought you…"

Banjou simply hugged her, looking at her.

"You thought I abandoned you, didn't you?" Banjou asked.

The silence and the crying gave him the answer he was looking for, as Petra seemingly cried into Banjou's shoulder.

For at least a moment, the two were seemingly almost like they were at the very beginning. A lost child, and a man out of his own world, and probably his mind.

Too bad it was interrupted by a shrill screaming being heard from the nearby room. The sound of clattering mixed in with the sound of absolute terror interrupted the two's heartwarming reunion, probably signifying Bernadetta making the obvious realization.

"...I'll talk about it later." He told her, Petra sighing as the two walked over to the door, slowly opening it.

They saw the room in an absolute mess, despite the only things being in there were a massive table, a bed, and a window. The sheets were seemingly thrown in some type of fit, and the two saw that Bernie was in the corner, pointing a knife at them.

"S-stay back! I've got a weapon and I...I'm not afraid to use it!" she shouted, pointing said knife at them.

Banjou looked at her with the most stupefying look ever, as he leaned toward Petra's ear.

"She does know that's a butter knife, right?" He told her, for which simply she nodded in absolute confusion.

"Don't make me have to use this!" Bernadetta pleaded to the two, Petra slowly approaching her hands up.

"You remember me, Bernedetta? It's me, Petra. Remember? Your former classmate?" She asked her slowly and clearly, until she kneeled down in front of the scared purple-haired girl, hands still up in the air.

"Don't worry; neither one of us are here to kill you." she told her, Bernie panicking up a storm in reaction to such, as she still held the knife up, this time dangerously close to Petra's neck.

Banjou looked like he was ready to punch the lights out of the woman to stop Petra's neck from potentially being slit. Even if it was just a butter knife, Banjou didn't want to risk anything when it came to his mission. Well, one of his personal missions anyway. The tension was at a boiling point by this point, with the three nearly sweating from the amount of tension around them.

Thankfully, it started to settle down, with Bernie eventually started slowly lowering the knife, hands and body shaking in general, as Petra comforted her.

"Was...was that…?" She began to ask, pointing at Banjou as he looked toward the two. "But...wasn't he…"

"Shh." Petra simply stated. "He is. But he is an ally. He will not kill you. Especially not while I am around him. Now...introduce yourself."

Bernedetta simply nodded, as she slowly got up, looking toward Banjou in the most nervous way possible.

"H...hh...hi. I'm Bern...Ber...B.." she stuttered all the way through, looking like she might fall into unconsciousness again.

"I know who you are. Your names are plastered around the damn place like some type of recruitment poster. Bernadetta, of House Vanity...I mean Varley right? Heard that your house is under damn house arrest by that Empress…" Banjou asked her, mumbling something about how someone would've probably made a 'House Vanity' by now, as Bernadetta stood there petrified that this random stranger knew pretty much everything about her.

"You say that like Edelgard is doing something wrong?" She inquired toward Banjou after some inner thoughts. Banjou would've said something, if it wasn't for the Cross-Z dragon device interrupting them, giving them a screech that their food was seemingly done, as Bernadetta scrambled back into her corner of the room, Petra seemingly trying to awkwardly comfort her as best as possible.

"We can talk later Banjou." Petra told him, as he walked back out the door.

"Was...was that the vigilante Edelgard was talking about?" She asked Petra, for which she gave a confused look.

"Edelgard talked about him?" Petra questioned toward the Varley noble, confused on why the Empress herself seemingly cared about Banjou particularly.

"I don't know; I just heard rumors. Rumors that Edelgard wants something from him. I didn't hear much else...why?" Bernadetta inquired toward the Brigidan noble, for which Petra simply looked down, a very small smile on her face. It still hurt her to some degree.

"Let me tell you a story…" she began, the mood of Bernadetta increasing ever so slightly at this.

Walking back, Banjou seemingly walked toward the meal, seemingly looking like the meat belonging to three wolves and some lettuce from a local farm. Banjou sighed.

"_Well...at least it's better than being experimented on by Nebula Gas back home." _He thought to himself, staring at the dying flame.

"_Banjou…"_

"_That voice...no... I must be going insane from that fight earlier."_ Banjou told himself, shaking his head to seemingly get rid of the mysterious voice.

"_...Banjou Ryuga, I know you can hear me. You can't ignore it."_

Banjou gritted his teeth, clearly not wanting to deal with this, at such a late time.

"_Get out of my head!"_ He shouted in his head, trying to think about something else. But the voice kept pushing.

"_Banjou...you really think you and Sento killed me with some measly little Rider kick? No...all you did was give me a vacation here in this...bleak and desolate, but interesting new land!"_ The voice shouted, Banjou beginning to sweat profusely in desperation to keep the voice. "_I'm especially interested in that young woman you've befriended…"_

"_You will not touch Petra! I won't let you!"_ Banjou yelled out mentally toward the voice, it seemingly just reacting with overdramatic maniacal laughter.

"_Just like you did Kasumi Ogura?"_ It taunted, Banjou simply losing it, as he screamed as loud as he could, banging his head against the floor.

"YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME BACK THERE!" he shouted, as more maniacal laughter was heard inside his head, as Petra ran into the room, sword in hand followed by Bernadetta, who still had her butter knife in hand, as they noticed Banjou seemingly about to fall into unconsciousness, his head bloodied from the floor smashing.

"_Banjou, it's only inevitable. Now, I'm sure you've got a nice little nap to do; we'll talk later. Ciao!" _The voice mentally told Banjou, just before he was knocked out headfirst into the floor, with the floor cracking in response. Bernadetta obviously quickly become very squeamish.

"I can try to heal him. M...Mercedes taught me a little bit in secret back at the academy." she told Petra, who looked a little curious that Bernadetta would somehow get out of her comfort zone to speak to someone other than their teacher or Edelgard. Especially considering that both her and Mercedes were of different factions, both now and before.

Petra missed those days. But now wasn't the time, with what a bleeding Banjou on the ground, unconscious and probably not willing to wake up at the current moment. The two moved him to one of the temporary cots in the room, as Bernadetta began concentrating on healing her.

"I can only keep his head from bleeding for so long…" she told her, as she attempted to work on at least stopping said bleeding, as Petra noticed the dragon.

It showed Banjou's body on another screen in front of Petra.

His wounds weren't that severe surprisingly. In fact...the blood coming out of him now was...all that came out.

How? Who knew. But it meant that something was different about the guy. Something even Petra probably never knew.

Petra simply walked into the room, where she seemingly noticed a folded piece of paper on the ground, most likely something Bernadetta dropped.

"Hm?" She asked herself out loud, picking it up and unfolding it.

It showed...a few things, considering how much was going. It seemingly showed some type of desert; much like how Bernadetta's surroundings where she lived were like. Except...this desert looked much more foreign. More foreign than her.

Two people were seen, seemingly ready to fight each other. One with what looked to be an alternate color scheme to the Build Driver on its waist. Except...it looked a whole lot more different, seemingly more monstrous. It seemingly was facing another woman, who looked similar to the mysterious leader of the Church of Seiros. Only here...she looked much younger. And different too, almost like she was someone completely different.

The two seemed to be ready to fight, as a weird box was seen on some type of pedestal in the middle of both. And overarching on the top of the picture? A strange symbol was seen, something Petra had never seen before. As a result, she'd have to ask Bernadetta as well,

She looked toward the Cross-Z Dragon device, who seemingly screeched at Bernadetta. Strangely enough...she was comfortable with the machine near her like that. It eventually made its way back to Petra, as it moved to her shoulder. It seemingly wanted to show her something, as it lit a screen up.

A single item popped up on the screen.

A single thing that Petra saw for herself earlier. Except...it was the thing she had been looking for before.

A file from seemingly mentioned as a date Petra didn't even know about. Marked 2018.

"The future?" Petra simply asked, the dragon nudging itself to say no.

It was simply labeled _Message: Contingency BLUE_.

She was at least smart enough to click on it, as it disappeared. In its place, it seemed to mention something about a download, which Petra had no idea about. It was seemingly recovering something, before a man appeared, looking like he had a bad hair day. He looked a little bit...off, though Petra never knew why. That being because she recoiled back at the suddenness of the man appearing like that, on the screen.

"Is there a man trapped inside you, dragon?" She asked the non-verbal speaking dragon device, for which it momentarily stopped the recording, and screech a bunch of times.

Like she was going to understand what it was saying.

She simply waved at the man at the screen in an uncomfortable fashion, the dragon continuing the video.

"_This message is in the emergency case that either Musclehead over there..." _The unknown man then moved the recording device to someone who Petra recognized, which sent her entire body back in front of the screen.

There was Banjou, with one exception. He looked much younger, seemingly busy punching a hanging bag of all things. Petra simply looked at her own hands. Maybe if Banjou could punch something and have a similar impact as something like a sword, then she could…especially with the advantage of speed that she had...

She knocked herself out of that thought, shaking her head. Petra decided to wait until after she had dealt with whatever this was, as she continued the recording, the unknown man sighing heavily as he refocused it to him, the sound of a screech being heard from the device.

"_...or he dies. Or just out of action...at least that's how Faust stated it. In which case, this device, named the Cross-Z Dragon, will choose another host within the Touto region. Hopefully not someone from Faust...or Blood Stalk." _ the recording continued with, Petra stopping the recording.

"_Faust? Blood Stalk?_" Whatever Faust or Blood Stalk was, it seemingly was attracted to Banjou's attention. Alongside whoever this mysterious man was that was speaking to her.

She continued the recording hesistangly.

"_In which case, allow me to introduce you to the Cross-Z Dragon. Today, I will be teaching you how the Cross-Z Dragon works, alongside the Build Driver..if you have it that is. Banjou, get yourself over here."_

You could swear Petra had her eyes glued to the screen at the fact that whoever this was, created the driver.

"_Oy, Sento, I'm half-naked! Can't this wait a minute!" _The younger Banjou shouted, somehow earning a small chuckle from Petra.

The entry was paused there, seemingly both to her annoyance and her shock.

She gave it some thought, remembering something the Cross-Z Dragon showed her earlier in the day.

_Search for Sento Kiryu. May have answers._

She looked at the dragon, seemingly as it stared blankly, at least as much as a small draconic robot could, right back at the Brigidian heiress.

"Why won't you reveal more to me, dragon? Especially about this...Sento, whoever he may be." She asked him, for which the dragon simply nudged itself in Banjou's direction.

"You...want Banjou to train me?" She suggested to the dragon, for which it simply screeched.

It then rushed itself over to Banjou, banging itself into his pocket a bunch of times, much to Bernadetta trying to shoo the thing away so it didn't damage the 'Musclehead' much longer, as the cylinder from before wiggled out, the dragon seemingly grabbing it by it's small teeth, slowly but surely reaching Petra, dropping it in its hands, before activating the screen again, and showing what seemed to be a second part of the recording, as it showed Banjou simply walking away, probably to grab a shower and change.

The recording of the man pulled out that exact same cylinder that Petra had in her hand, as she looked at the recording.

"_This is what's called the Dragon Fullbottle. This should be specifically used to form the armor that will create the Rider which I will call...Kamen Rider…" _ he told the screen, before rubbing his hair in contemplation, as he then pointed his finger up with some kind of idea, a tuft of his hair popping up in said direction. "_...Ryu! No, that's way too short. Or Aoi! No, that's way too short too...accurate though to Banjou…anyways, whatever I come up with for it. There is a warning though; every use of this armor will increase your Hazard Lev..."_

Petra simply stopped the message, looking toward the dragon at the mention of the Hazard Levels.

"Dragon, what is this 'Hazard Level' that was mentioned?" She asked, for which the dragon zoomed down, popping that same screen that she saw earlier. Petra noticed something different though.

_Hazard Level: 3.05_

"_Increase in Hazard Level...perhaps it relates to power. Maybe the more that...no...:" _she told herself. "_Perhaps maybe the more I used the Fullbottle, as the man said, the more my Hazard Level rises."_

And then she remembered the warning associated with it.

_WARNING: PREVENT FROM REACHING HAZARD LEVEL 5.00._

"_Maybe if I were to raise it to four…" _she had told herself, staring toward the dragon, as it shut off the screen.

"Dragon...I do believe I must beg forgiveness from you, but I would like you to wait until the morning to continue this recording. I also must request that you act as a light. Much similar to the way you had brought us home. We will need some materials if we are to..." Petra, told it, before looking out and widening her eyes.

It was already dead of night outside, the only light being seen being that of the coastal town below them.

"On a second thought of mine, I would instead like you to help me understand the use of Cross-Z's abilities. Seeing as it's current user is currently injured." Petra eloquently stated as she looked toward the knocked out Banjou, the dragon screeching happily. Which was enough for Petra to know it supported its decision.

"Very well then...let us begin in earnest then first thing in the morning." She told the dragon, it screeching, as she walked over, noticing a very 'cute' scene.

It seemed that Bernadetta was more tired than one would think, accidentally sleeping on top of Banjou. Who didn't seem to mind by the looks of it.

The both of them snored as loud as the transformation for Cross-Z's powers announced. Which to say, she was surprised they hadn't attracted any bandits from either of their snoring. Or all of Nuvelle, for that matter.

Petra simply smiled...though she had one thought in mind.

"_I need to ask Banjou so much about what Sento said just now in the tiny box. And...what in all of the spirits is a Kamen Rider?"_ she thought to herself, staring at it.

* * *

_(Enbarr, around the same time)_

Empress Edelgard von Hresvelg was not exactly the happiest person in Fodlan right now. Or anywhere for that matter. She watched as people went and gone. Gone off, died, and came back to life. To any normal person, it would seem like some sort of horrific war, or war crime to be this way, to be non-caring about the situation surrounding it.

But to Edelgard, it was absolutely necessary. The Church of Seiros were a plague upon the land. A plague which to her, lead to her current predicament. And the soldiers needed someone who was unwavering. Not willing to give up or react in the face of danger. Of course, even within the Adrestian Empire, she was surrounded by people for whom she didn't except a few, those of whom weren't there except for a man standing next to her. She always had a fondness for Hubert von Vestra. Even if that loyalty seemed to be borderline obsessive protection at times.

Though what made the day worse? A messenger barging in uninvited, seemingly out of breath, the guards raising their pikes and lances toward him, only for Edelgard to raise her hand.

"Let the man be!" She shouted, the messenger dropping to his knees in exhaustion, as Hubert approached him, his hair looking quite menacing with one side drooped down to cover his eye.

"Now, I must ask; what brings you to Her Empress's court uninvited!" He shouted toward the knight, almost pulling out a dagger to seemingly threaten him further with. That was, until he began to speak.

"My lady, we had spotted Lady Petra returning from Brigid ma'am. Her ship arrived in Nuvelle earlier in the morning today." The messenger told her, for which Edelgard reacted by keeping her neutral expression. Though she was happy that the Brigidian princess had returned. Probably with a full on deal to incorporate Brigid into the Empire further. However, all her dreams of that would be shattered when the messenger kept talking. "We had spotted her with some sort of… 'driver' as your Minister of Diplomacy has labeled it. Similar to the one recovered from the Brigidian palace, ma'am."

This caused Edelgard to seemingly look down, almost like she was...experiencing some type of bad memory. This went on for quite a bit, Hubert noticing it.

"My lady...are you okay? Shall we send some of our soldiers to find Lady Petra and…"

"No." was Edelgard's command. "This shall be a personal issue. You are dismissed, young messenger.."

The messenger nodded, walking away, as Hubert looked toward the Empress somewhat confused.

"I want the Minister of Diplomacy down here as soon as he can. Alongside his.." she had ordered Hubert, seemingly wincing again as she thought of a word to say. "...driver."

It sounded awkward to Edelgard, her mouth being left with a strange bad taste.

"If Petra has it, she may want Brigid's independence. We can not risk the possibility of her going rogue, otherwise we will have a third front on our already struggling war with the Kingdom and the Alliance." She stated, Hubert giving her a puzzling look.

"Wasn't she your ally, my Empress?" He asked puzzlingly.

Edelgard simply sighed. This was going to get awkward.

"She is. Or...was, depending on her motivation. I can not risk this Empire collapsing from within. Not while we have an external threat to deal with too." She responded, Hubert simply nodding in response.

"Didn't we send the Minister of Diplomacy home? Amid the current war going on?" He stated, Edelgard staring at him.

"We did...that's why I want him back here as soon as possible. He may prove useful." She told him. "Make sure he gets here in one piece."

"As you wish, my lady."

And with that, Hubert walked off, leaving Edelgard alone on her throne, as she sighed in thought.

"_If Petra managed to find who I think it is… I may have to deal with this myself."_


	4. Emerging Forewarning

**AN: So um… more than 1000 views. Damn. Nice to see you guys again for another chapter. Anyways, I'm just taking my time here with this story. Making sure that it's to my liking and well enough for people to be interested in and all. Obviously, I appreciate those of you who stuck around, those of you who are new or just simply passed by to take a look. I also updated the key for Chapters 1-3 back on Chapter 1, just so that I don't have to put new things on new Chapters and have to make you go back and forth as much. Without further ado, and as one dead meme once said…**

**Ah s***, here we go again…**

**Also, made a poll up on my profile. Just as a question for this story. **

**Edit 10/28/19- Yeah, completely forgot to publicize the poll. Still getting used to this site; it'll take some time. It's up now.**

* * *

_Panting. Anger. The muffled sound of voices. _

_Banjou seemingly looked around him, as he felt like something was injected into him. He looked around his surroundings, in a very familiar setting._

"_This...Damnit, am I back in here?" He asked himself, noticing the glass-like box he was in. He noticed something...different however. _

_The people who were experimenting him...weren't the scientists he remembered. At least...not the ones led by the Devil Scientist himself. Instead, they seemingly had white skin, like vampires. Black eyes, and dark marks slashed across their face. He could barely see anything else beyond that. _

_He spotted what seemed to be some young girl as well in the distance. Crimson, elegant robes adorned her, though to Banjou it was nothing more than a feminine figure and a blur. She seemed to stare, somewhat somberly toward Banjou, as he began to feel sharp pain across his body. _

_His screams were seemingly only confined to the small box he was stuck in. _

_And then the world went black._

* * *

Banjou woke up with a piercing scream, Bernadetta jumping back at the immediate reaction as she nearly toppled to the ground in a heap of fear. The cleric next to her seemed somewhat surprised at the reaction, as she looked toward the Muscle, as he stared toward the group with piercing and suspicious eyes, a threatening glance to the two.

He soon enough widened his eyes, realizing that indeed, he was not being painfully observed again, but rather simply being watched.

"What...what…" he began to stammer, the cleric simply moving next to him.

"Sir, you head was seemingly bleeding; Lady Varley stated you were banging your head against the floor for some indiscernible reason. I came as soon as possible to heal you whilst Lady Varley and Macneary were here." He stated, Banjou looking around at the realization that Petra was missing, alongside the Build Driver and Cross-Z Dragon.

"Where did she.." he began, trying to get up, before he felt a hand on him from the cleric, Bernie seemingly having a face of absolute terror on her face in how Banjou would react.

"Um...Petra...is training." She responded meekly, for which Banjou raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Training?"

"Yes...she's apparently training. The dragon...told her to." Bernadetta responded weakly for which Banjou widened his eyes, now trying to get himself up...only to feel a sharp pain entered his head, seemingly barely forcing him down.

"It'll only take an hour. Please, stay still while I finish." The cleric told him, Bernadette simply staring at him in fear.

"Did...y-you have a bad dream?" She asked, Banjou seemingly looking toward the lavender-haired lady in a bit of confusion.

"...to say the least." Was his only reply, sighing.

* * *

Outside, Petra seemingly stared toward the various different items around her. Makeshift dummies, made of straw and cotton surrounding the Brigidian heiress.

She slowly breathed, raising her sword up, the Build Driver and Cross-Z Dragon laying nearby against a rusty bench nearby. Petra soon enough began to let out some type of warcry, charging her sword into one of the dummies, kicking a second one that was close by. She seemed to almost memorize this movement, as she danced elegantly across the mock enemies, her sword seemingly cutting into them like fresh butter to Bernie's butter knife. Eventually, she noticed her work as she slashed the head off the last of the dummies, it's head bonking her on the head on the way down.

"_This is quite excellent. It seems my ability to combat still objects is still proficient." _She thought to herself, hilting the sword away, as she looked to the dragon device, who seeemingly stared back at her.

It was starting to get creepy to her. Then again, it wasn't anything like what Kronya had to offer back in the day.

She walked up to the Build Driver, grabbing it.

"Dragon, I will have to utilize this belt. If you believe I may be able to wield it." Petra had told the dragon, attaching the Build Driver to her waist, as the Cross-Z dragon compacted itself, as she attached the dragon into the driver, Fullbottle already inside said device.

_**[Wake Up! Cross-Z Dragon!] **_

She turned the crank, expecting the armor to form...though instead of actually forming the armor, her body was instead shocked by the driver, forcing both the dragon and the belt to fly off her, as she collapsed onto the ground.

"How was I not able to do this, Dragon? I have done so before." She asked the dragon, only to receive a different response.

"Because you've just exceeded Hazard Level 3. You may be able to wield the Build Driver, but that dragon does need a bit more of a Hazard Level. Like Hazard Level 3.2, I think. Least that's what Sento told me." Banjou told her, standing over her, a small smile on his face, as Bernie worriedly followed behind him.

"Aren't you supposed to be back in bed, Mr. Ryuga?" Bernie asked worryingly, Banjou simply waving toward her.

"Please, I'm absolutely fine. My head bleeding is just a normal Tuesday." He told her, a goofy smile on his face, before looking toward Petra, raising a hand toward her, for which Petra gladly took.

He looked toward the dragon, as he picked up the Build Driver.

"Did you seriously tell her everything about the Cross-Z…" Banjou began to ask the dragon, which it interrupted him with another screech. "...and about the…" he continued, only for another screech in reaction. "...even the part about Evolto?"

"Evolto?" Petra and Bernie asked him simultaneously, Petra more curiously while Bernie's question was more terrified in tone.

Banjou immediately realized he was screwed. The dragon probably never told them about their biggest threat back on Earth.

"Well, you see...he…" Banjou awkwardly tried to say, thinking of a way to avoid the entire situation surrounding Evolto from sounding...a bit crazy. Or make him look like some crazed maniac.

"No...I do not think we need to worry about whoever this Evolto is. Not while the war is currently going on." Petra interrupted with, Banjou immediately getting a little anxious at Petra's lack of concern.

"Oy; this is a world destroying guy from Mars we're talking about!" he shouted, only to realize what he actually just said, as Bernie quite literally jumped back at the mention of 'world destroying guy'.

Petra, on the other hand...was more concerned about something else.

"Mars?" She inquired, Banjou's eye twitching at Petra's concern, as she noticed the dragon staring toward the musclehead. "I do remember you mentioning a continent that you didn't come from before, however, is Mars one of the towns…"

"I lied."

"What?" Petra asked in some surprise, as Banjou had his head down. "I lied. I...come from a different world. Not one like this."

She simply stared, mouth open in an O shape. She simply was a little shocked to find out about Banjou's little secrets.

Well, one of his secrets, that was.

"Then if you are not of this world...where did you come from?" She asked, as she noticed Bernadetta seem...a lot less scared of Banjou.

It was strange to her to say the least. But she paid it no mind.

"...why don't you train first? I mean, we do have…" he began, before he began to notice a figure walking up to them. A messenger, from the Adrestian high command.

"Sir, if you wouldn't mind, this message is private to Lady MacNeary and Lady Varley. Please…" the messenger began, before a finger was shoved into his armor, sending the messenger stepping back a bit at the strength of said finger alone, Banjou going up into his face.

"Oy, helmet-head! It's a piece of paper, why shouldn't I get to read it!" He began to shout, almost being ready to shout some profanities toward the poor messenger, until a hand was raised between the two, Petra simply nodding to Banjou.

"He is a friend of the Adrestian Empire. We will be okay." She stated, the messenger bowing to the two before leaving.

An awkward silence followed, Bernadetta following it up.

"I paid the healer. We might...um...get inside. Away from the wolves...and the bats...and everything." She stated to the group, sending the three of them away into the house.

Petra simply sat down on one of the cots, Banjou adjacent toward her, with Bernie sitting on the floor, the Cross-Z Dragon floating near her, as she tried to shoo it away.

Opening the letter, she proceeded to begin reading it.

And to say she felt a little suspicious was a definite understatement.

_Petra, _

_I've gotten word that you have arrived on the mainland. I'm sending this letter to notify you about the war. It's gotten much worse, and I've sent this letter out in hopes that we may talk back in Enbarr about the situation. I have gotten rumours from our spies in the Leicester Alliance that them and Kingdom of Faerghus may plan a possible attack at Fort Merceus within the next month. I am planning a trip toward Oche in the near future to speak about possibly integrating Brigid into the Adrestian Empire fully; Brigidian support would be most helpful. Especially with rumors that you possess something that might accelerate our chances of victory. Please arrive within the next week; time is of the essence._

_Edelgard_

"What does it say?" Banjou asked her, Petra simply staring at it blankly.

"I'm supposed to meet Edelgard." she summarized, sending Banjou on some type of high alert.

"Shit…" was his reply, beginning to pace around the room.

"And I do believe she has knowledge that we have the Build Driver." She continued, sending him into some sort of rare emotion that he knew he hadn't felt for a long time.

Panic.

He started mumbling something, while Petra simply wiggle her hand into one of the many pockets underneath, pulling out Bernadetta's drawing from earlier.

It also sent Bernie into a panic, swiping the drawing off Petra's hands.

"W-where did you get that from!" Bernie shouted, clutching the drawing in her hand tightly, as Banjou seemingly noticed the drawing. His head immediately began throbbing in pain, Banjou recoiling back from its effects, as Petra rushed to him.

"No...no…" He repeated out loud, trying to stop his head. "Her…"

Petra placed Banjou against one of the beds, as he placed his hands on his head, trying to stop the pain.

"Where...did you see that?" he asked her.

Bernadetta simply looked toward the picture, then back up at Banjou.

"A dream…"

* * *

_A battlefield. Sand and rocky mountains as far as the eye could see. This was the place that Bernadetta woke up from. She noticed some type of massive structure, looming over the entirety of it. _

_Terrified, Bernadetta slowly walked around, noticing a clearing ahead...and heard the screams of foreign beings, sending her into a panic as she rushed toward the hill._

_What she saw at the top surprised her. _

_A box laid in the middle, black throughout most of it except for a single white panel of sorts. Two beings faced one another, staring down one another. _

_One looked like some kind of monster, with various different colors, and a sword in hand, one that Bernadetta never had seen before. She also saw black blood dripping down various parts of the monster's body._

_The other shocked Bernadetta, considering how House Varley no longer believed in the being in front of her._

"_Is that?" She thought to herself, as she stared toward the other person, who looked just like how Seiros looked in the various murals and paintings she saw back at Garreg Mach. _

_Green hair flowed down her, blood trailing across her body, ruining the white gowns and cape attached to her body. The sword she had in her hand seemed worn down, almost to a broken status. _

_She was too far away to see what they were saying, as the woman raised her sword. _

_With a shrill warcry of sorts, she charged at the monster, who seemingly did the same thing, the two colliding with the box. _

_And then the world burned with light, Bernadetta going with it._

* * *

"I don't remember much. I just drew what I saw in that dream yesterday morning." She told them, Banjou seemingly healed from his suffering, as he looked toward Bernie.

"I do believe you owe us an explanation for your world, Banjou." Petra told her, eyebrow raised.

"I do...so where do you want to start?"

"What is a Kamen Rider?" Petra first asked, leading the Varley noble to look toward the two.

"Well...a Kamen Rider is a protector of love and peace." Banjou simply told them, rubbing his chin in thought.

"That...sounds vague." Bernie commented, before Banjou nodded.

"As Sento said, Kamen Riders protect the love and peace of this world; they shouldn't be used as a weapon for war."

"But didn't you use…"

Banjou's near death stare toward Petra made her drop the idea she was going to say.

Both of them nodded in understanding, leading Petra to her next question.

"Who is Sento Kiryu? And why is he stuck inside a tiny box in the dragon?" Petra asked him next, for which Banjou...began laughing?

Bernie simply assumed the worse with that statement, the Cross-Z Dragon baring its fangs toward the Varley noble as some type of sick joke, leading to her jumping back.

" Please don't steal my soul!" She shouted in fear, Petra being a lot more confused about why he laughed.

"He isn't stuck in a tiny box...that's a screen." He told her, for which Petra simply tried to say said word to herself. Banjou then got a bit more somber.

"Sento...Sento was a friend. One of the best, in fact. Saved me more than I can count (he winced at that fact), he created the Cross-Z Driver...he did so much. He was a genius too, both literally and formally." he told Petra, no longer paying attention to him, as he reminisced about something…something that he remembered from just before what he'd thought was the world merger.

"_Me and Banjou...are the Best Match!"_

Even in Evolto's body, Banjou knew that he and Sento were like partners. Not romantic or anything...but they were still partners nonetheless. It hurt that Banjou had seemingly lost Sento in the creation of the New World.

"Then we shall find him. However, with this war going on, we might have to…"

"Defect?" Bernie piped up in absolute fear. "But...Edelgard might…"

"Not yet. Not until I have confirmation that Edelgard knows about Banjou." she stated. "If she knows about the Build Driver...then it is most likely that she knows about the dragon. And if she does, she may assume that we have something that can turn the tide of the war. I will not allow this power to be used to kill people."

Banjou simply wallowed in his thoughts about the situation, as what sounded like screams of terror was heard from nearby the city, interrupting the three, as they opened the door.

Bandits in the distance. The same ones who were held back by Petra and Banjou the first time had seemingly returned. Their leader had wore some type of fur coat over him, alongside armor (probably learning from the last time) as he laughed at the situation.

"Haha! We're back boys!" he shouted,the three barely hearing him, the Adrestian guard of the city protecting the outside of the town with the spears and swords. A couple bowmen joined them from the rear.

Soon enough, the man simply laughed, looking around.

She noticed a few bowmen walking up toward the house, not yet noticing the three.

Bernadetta, realizing that indeed she was defenseless against the threat of three ranged people, promptly freaked out, until a sword was slammed into her chest, courtesy of Petra.

"Use this. Considering your proficiency in the bow, I'd suggest grabbing one once I deal with them." She responded toward Bernie, before rushing away toward the woods where the bowmen were coming from.

"W-wait! What are you…" Bernie began to ask, eventually just giving up as she held the sword steadily, as she looked back toward Banjou, before looking back toward the woods where Petra had went, shakily raising her sword and rushed after her.

* * *

Petra laid in the bushes, watching. The three bowmen seemingly walked slowly around the forest, seemingly in conversation with one another.

"...where'd the boss say to set up?" One of them asked the other two.

"Said to split up. Something about 'different positions of ambush' or something like that." The other one, a female responded.

"And get picked off one by one?" The third asked, looking very concerned about the situation at hand.

"In all of Seiros, would you stop being worried about some measly little assassin picking us off? I bet you the Empire doesn't have one; they save them for the damn politicians. Backstabbing each other about as fast as the Kingdom is dying from itself." The first one told him, laughing.

"Now come on...you two go on ahead. I've got to take a look at a good position for us." She stated, waving off the two as the female bowman sighed, placing her bow away as she pulled out a dagger, turning away from Petra's location. The Brigidian heiress snuck behind her, and kicked her back, sending the woman tumbling to the ground. The other two male bowmen noticed it, one of them rushing back, as the other one simply stared in fear, drawing his bow. Only to be stabbed straight through his body by Bernadetta with Petra's sword, the blood on Bernie's hands immediately causing her to have a face of absolute terror in reaction, as the bow dropped onto the ground.

Meanwhile, the female bowman struggled to get out of Petra's grasp, as the two threw themselves to the ground in a tumble, the two seemingly fighting over the dagger that she had, as Bernadetta simply picked up the bow, aiming it toward the bowman trying to rescue his comrade from the heiress. She let go of the arrow, leading to the arrow sticking into the man's back, as he collapsed to the ground, attempting to grab his own bow. As Bernadetta nocked another arrow into the bow, she fired it toward the injured male bowman, ending his life. She picked up Petra's sword, jogging into the fray between Petra and the other woman, as Petra jumped on top of the woman, launching punch after punch at her head in some type of unexplained...rage?

"You bandits...are the reason...our people have no peace!" Petra shouted between punches, killing the woman with her bloodied fists.

Bernie simply looked ahead, noticing a giant shadow growing bigger and bigger toward them.

"Petra...look out!" she shouted, Petra noticing the bandit leader way too late, as she was grabbed by the neck, hoisted up by the leader, as the leader gave a maniacal smile.

"Oh; now look who we have here!" he shouted, punching Petra in her stomach, blood coming out of her mouth. "Now how's it feel to be on the other side!"

Bernie simply nocked an arrow, attempting to fire it toward the bandit leader.

_Doink!_

The arrow simply bounced off his armored chest, leaving a small mark as it landed harmlessly nearby.

"Ha! You think a serious arrow can kill me! Don't you know how armor works, girl? Where's your little boyfriend? Don't you.." he began, as he felt himself being projected back again, Petra dropping to the ground as she tried to breath, as someone stumbled in front of Petra, Build Driver in hand.

"Banjou? But I thought..?" Petra asked him weakly, only to be ignored as the Build Driver wrapped around his waist, the Cross-Z Dragon seemingly breathing fire in front of him to prevent the bandit leader and his lackeys from attacking him.

She'd have to ask him about that later.

"Oh, if it isn't moppy-boy. I've learned from last time; I'm ready for your little punches and your little…" he began, before Banjou interrupted him.

"Then you aren't very smart in knowing when to mess with me. Or them." Banjou warned him, the bandits around the leader seemingly feeling fear crawl up their spine.

_**[Wake Up! Cross-Z Dragon!]**_

As he turned the crank, the two Adrestian women stared at him. Bernie in somewhat shock and fear, Petra in confidence.

"_My protector's back._" She simply thought to herself, smiling as the armor formed around him.

_**[Are You Ready?]**_

He looked back to Petra, a smile on his face...it had been a long time since he did that. Along with what followed.

"Henshin."

_**[Wake Up Burning! Get Cross-Z Dragon! Yeah!]**_

With the armor formed around him, Kamen Rider Cross-Z stared at the bandit leader, him looking a little less smug and confident as before, as the Rider walked through the fire.

"What the hell are you idiots looking at? Kill the damn blue turd!" The bandit leader yelled, his group charging into the fray.

Then, the entire bandit group charged him, leader included.

"Petra…" Bernie told Petra, shaking her out of her trance. "We need to help !"

She seemed to shake off her prideful look, as she picked up her sword, using it to get up.

"...right." Petra told herself, as Bernie stayed at a distance, allowing Petra to rush in after the bandits.

"HA HA...I FEEL UNBEATABLE!" he shouted, rushing towards the bandits, throwing them his shoulder, Petra raising her sword and killing the downed bandits with relative ease.

Bernie grabbed a bag of arrows from one of the dead bowman, slinging it around her back as she began launching arrow after arrow toward the bandits, trying to shoot down as much as she could, noticing the lack of reinforcements. The bandit leader only seemed to bring about 15 other bandits with him, compared to the nearly fifty he had been with when threatening the guards.

Then she heard the fighting.

"_Don't concentrate on the screaming, Bernadetta. Focus on saving Mr. Banjou and Petra…"_ Bernie had thought to herself, as she nocked another arrow to fire.

As Petra held off the soldiers, Cross-Z began charging toward the bandit leader, who gave a smug.

"HA!" He shouts, throwing an axe toward Cross-Z...only for it to miss and instead land in the back of one of his own bandits.

"...you are the stupidest bandit I've seen in my life. And I've seen some stupid stuff." He told the leader, for which the bandit leader got pissed at the dragonic Rider's insult, and proceeded to pull out two more axes, slashing at Cross-Z, sending him back in an unexpected manner, sparks flying. Which by extent forced the bandit back.

"Banjou!" Petra shouted, slashing a bandit through the chest with her iron sword, rushing over to help Banjou, only for him to raise a hand to stop her, as he raised his hand.

"Wha…" the bandit began to ask, as tubes of all things began forming out of his armor, eventually forming a very blue and silver sword.

_**[Beat Crosser!]**_

"...so the suit hides more than I thought." Petra told herself, turning around to kick and slash another bandit, as Banjou gripped the sword, grunting.

"_My body isn't exactly how it's used to; can thank everyone in Fodlan for that." _ Banjou told himself inside the Cross-Z suit, sighing as he dodged the axes by the leader, as she noticed Petra running toward her.

She nodded up, Cross-Z acting confused as he raised the Beat Crosser sword in confusion.

"What do you even want me to do?!" he shouted, as he noticed two bandits rushing after her.

"Oh." was all Cross-Z said, Petra jumping to Cross-Z's shoulders, as she flipped to the front of the bandit leader, slashing him in the face, as Cross-Z slashed the two bandits's arms, before slamming his fists into the two bandits, immediately killing them, their bodies flying back into the forest.

The bandit leader stumbled back, wildly swinging his axe every which way, as Petra backflipped her way back to Cross-Z, as two arrows flew passed them, slamming into the bandit's legs, the leader screaming in pain as he dropped the axe, swinging his arms every which way.

The two simply looked back to Bernadetta, who gave an embarrassed look in reaction, as Cross-Z began turning the crank on the Build Driver again, Cross-Z simply huffed heavily, being quite drained from the entire thing, as he prepared himself, Petra watching with some intrigue.

_**[Ready, Go!]**_

He jumped up, a dragon showing up as some type of ethereal spirit. One that Petra seemed to be interested about, as she stayed there in some type of silent shock.

Cross-Z prepared to roundhouse kick the bandit in the air, the dragon breathing some type of fire toward the rider.

_**[Dragonic Finish!]**_

Kicking the bandit in the face, the bandit's body flew through the brushes of the trees, clearing it out, passing through the Adrestian guard and the gates of Nuvelle, before slowing down at a field, leaving behind a trail of flames.

And then exploding, scaring pretty much everyone there, as Cross-Z stared at where the bandit's corpse was, now just a patch of burnt grass.

"Huh...I forgot that happened." He told himself out loud, Petra staring toward where the bandit leader formally was. "I can see why exactly your friend Sento didn't want to use it in war."

The guards simply marched up to Cross-Z, weapons armed and ready.

"You've got to be kidding me." He responded out loud, the guards pointing their weapons at Cross-Z.

"You're under arrest for…" the guard began to yell, surprised when Petra stood between Cross-Z and the guards, them hesitating with the heiress in front of them.

"He is not the enemy; he's helped us against the threat of the bandits. He…" began Petra, seemingly thinking about what some form of excuse.

"He's my therapist! He's been teaching me some ancient Invoke magic!" Bernadetta unexpectedly yelled from behind the group, the knights looking to each other. "He's helped me with coming out of my…'little...muscles'?"

The guards were staring toward each other, then back to the three, as they lowered their weapons, some of them shrugging in response to what was clearly an excuse out of Bernadetta, as Petra slowly lowered her hands, staring toward Banjou, as he took off the Build Driver, his armor disappearing.

The Brigidian heiress simply looked toward one of the soldiers, as the men around him began assessing the casualties and the damage the battle had done.

"We must leave. Empress Edelgard has requested my arrival in Oche soon for a personal arrangement. Is there is any chance we may procure a carriage that is…" Petra asked one of the guards, looking past him to look at the carnage around them. "...not currently occupied?"

The guard simply rubbed his back, sweat dripping down his neck.

"We will provide one in town, Lady Petra." The knight responded, kneeling to him.

Petra noticed Bernie approach her from behind, seemingly very pasty from the amount of sweat running down her body.

"Bernadetta, you do look quite parched and pale." Petra said, pointing out the obvious, as she sweated.

"I..I never made an excuse like that! I don't know how to feel!" she shouted, half excitedly and half terrified.

"It will take some time to get used to, I'm sure." Petra responded, looking toward Banjou as he sighed, resting his hands on his head.

"Hadn't done that in forever." He told her, staring toward the heiress's brown eyes.

"What...happened to you?" She asked Banjou, for which he looked toward her.

"I...don't remember. I was a vigilante, but before that, I saw pale people. Some woman with white hair may have been the leader." She told Petra, her eyes widening a little bit.

She had thought back to the letter.

"_Maybe...no. It can't be. She wouldn't be that cruel...unless." _

Petra's head was a bit dizzy to say the least.

"I'm sure that you would need some type of rest, Banjou. Fighting takes lots of energy to use." She told him, Banjou just sighing as he began to sleep on the ground.

"Just tell me when we get our carriage Petra. Nothing too fancy; don't want to be a damn sore thumb when we get there." He told her, Petra chuckling as she looked toward Bernadette, who was walking towards them.

"Is he just…"

"Yeah. He will." Petra stated toward her, the two staring at the sleeping dragon that was Banjou, as the Cross-Z Dragon simply floated near Petra, the two seemingly searching for any decent weapons to possibly be able to use.

The Cross-Z Dragon simply stared toward Petra, as it seemingly was doing the equivalent of recalculating something, as Petra looked up at it, replacing her iron sword with a steel one.

"Dragon?" She inquired, said device floating back down to her.

It showed the blasted screen again, as she raised her eyebrow. It was some type of...floating thing. She recognized it very soon.

"The...Sclash Driver? What about it?" She asked the dragon.

—

_**[Tsubureru! Nagareru! Afurederu! Dragon in Cross-Z Charge! BRRRAAA!]**_

_Cross-Z Charge rushed into the front lines, Adrestian soldiers rushing toward him, as he seemingly attached a weapon into his wrist. _

_[__**TWIN BREAKER!]**_

_He charged at the dwindling Brigidian and Adrestian armies, using the Twin Breaker in Beam Mode to shoot down any incoming Adrestian swordsmen, motioning then to retreat. _

"_Back to the damn castle__! __Everyone!" Cross-Z shouted, some of the archers and reinforcements in the back heeding his orders. _

_The ones in the front weren't so lucky, being slashed down by the Adrestian lines. _

"_Damn!" He shouted, pulling out a Fullbottle, staring at it before attaching it to the Twin Breaker Wrist Weapon. _

_**[Single!] **_

_He folded part of the weapon back, a rod in the middle poping up the front of the Breaker. _

_**[Attack Mode!]**_

"_If Grease could do it, so can I…" __Cross-Z whispered to himself, noticing the arrival of what seemed to be some type of massive weapon of some kind._

"_You have to be absolutely kidding me…"__Cross-Z thought, immediately deciding his first instinct was to charge at the weapon, the Adrestians charging back at him. _

"_Your lances can't stop me!" He shouted, slashing a few of the Lance men down, before throwing his arm back with the Twin Breaker, throwing it forward, as two chains flew out, grouping some of the Lancemen together. _

"_Now for the best part!" Cross-Z yelled, cranking the Sclash Driver once more. _

_**[Scrap Break!] **_

_Jumping up, he seemingly was about kick above the men into the siege weapon to destroy it and prevent the rest of the men from having a heavy advantage. Alongside buy the king, Petra, and the Brigidian guards a little more time. _

"_Elwind!" He heard a choir of voices yell out behind the siege weapon, before a massive gust blew him out of window, flying out of the castle and down heaves upon heaves of bushes, smashing into trees along the way. _

_Somewhat during that experience, he fell unconscious._

—

A light shaking awoke Banjou, Petra seemingly chuckling as he sat next to him. He noticed a simple wooden carriage ahead of them, alongside various different clothes and food around him.

"The hell?" he began, Petra placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I believe the people of Nuvelle allowed the spirits to grace us with the fortune of food and new clothes for you. The spirits know you need it." She told him, Banjou simply standing up, pointing a finger toward the heiress.

"Why you...I smell just fine!" He yelled, as he grabbed the clothes, noticing the wooden carriage.

"How long did I…?"

"About three hours. You seemed to have had a bad dream." She retorted. "We will be leaving for Oche in the afternoon. It will take about three days. And of course, the only reason you do now is because I had rubbed lavender across your chest so the people didn't have to procure diarrhea."

Banjou simply groaned, jumping onto the carriage.

"_Figures." _He mumbled to himself, climbing the carriage. Petra sat next to Bernadetta, whom was seemingly reading a book from one of the Nuvellans. Interested in such, Petra slid from her position to the Varley's side, Banjou simply resting his entire body on the other.

"What exactly are you reading?" Petra questioned, peering over Bernie as she moved the book out of Petra's vision.

"I...it's a book. The Batcroc." She told her, leading to confusion from Petra.

"The Batcroc?" She asked Bernie, leading her to be a bit more excited than usual. Probably was waiting for the moment anyhow.

"Oh! You never heard of it? It's written by the mysterious G.H. One of the more powerful people in the Adrestian Empire; apparently it's a true story about a man who tried to fuse magic with a dark artifact and became the Batcroc! Everyone hated him until he came back and made new friends; his old friends betray...hey!" She shouted, after noticing Petra falling asleep.

She looked between her and Banjou, a little frightened by the two's parallel.

Then the Cross-Z Dragon appeared, fangs shown.

To the driver, the screaming was promptly ignored as he continued the carriage forward. He didn't want to get into any trouble by either noble. Or the very explosive dragon person they were carrying with them.


	5. Paralogue 1: Distant Memories

**AN: Hmm...here's a treat for you guys; my first attempt at a paralogue, plus two more chapters in the works for the rest of the month! Never been done before, hasn't it? (Insert obvious sarcasm here.). In all seriousness though, thank you for the comments and those who continue to view it and enjoy it. I had just realized that I might want to clarify some things, just for those who are wondering, before I continue on.**

**\- Yes, there will be appearances of the main Riders. I won't say how or when...but I'll drop some hints when I can. Alongside a few surprises along the way.**

**\- Yes, I have this planned out. This isn't something I'm gonna wing with. It's just a matter of time-wise how much I have. **

**\- Yes, I will accept criticism on all fronts. If you say it sucks, say why it sucks so I can take it into consideration instead of just saying 'this sucks'. Ain't gonna help me in the long run. Not gonna ignore criticism, my friends.**

**\- Paralouges will kind of act like side stories rather than filler stories. The in-betweens, if you will. It'll be more expanded on later.**

**With that out of the way, expect a small bit of slower updates for a bit. But expect the chapters to get longer due to this. **

**Anyways, with that out of the way, on with the show!**

* * *

Serene dreams, disappearing. Voices, seemingly becoming more clear to her ears.

"Oi…" a voice stated. "...oi...OI!"

Petra woke up with a startle, staring around her. She noticed the sun beaming down on them, as she looked around. Bernadetta was seemingly looking over the ocean over a wooden fence, as said ocean seemingly looked endless, the sound of nature being heard around the carriage.

Banjou looked toward her, a small smile on his face.

"After you." he simply said half-mockingly, a smile on Petra's face as she got out of the carriage, temporarily being blinded by the sun.

"Apparently, the driver here lost one of his wheels. Damn tinhead there's looking for a replacement for it. Said it'd be another few hours to Oche at this rate." he stated, as he jumped the fence, much to Bernie's fear going up.

"Where are you going, Mr. Banjou!" She shouted, as Banjou looked toward her.

"I'm gonna enjoy some actual quality time on the beach!" He shouted, as he seemingly began taking off his tunic, eventually laying back first onto the sand, Petra following suit, as Bernie started being worried.

"Petra! Why are you following him!" she asked.

"As Banjou stated; we have not gained time to relax with the war going on in the background. Now would be a nice time to take a small, if ever, period of relaxation." She told Bernie, as Bernie tumbled over the fence in pursuit of the two, landing head-first in the ground

"Well...well then let me at least be near you guys! In case of some bandits...or thieves...or spies!" She shouted, grabbing her book as she rested near a tree, immediately engrossing herself in her BatCroc book, as Petra simply stayed next to Banjou, sighing.

"You know, I've never been on the beach like this. Not since…"

"You found me? Why not? A beach sounds like a nice trip or rest for someone who's as overworked as me. Or you." Banjou told her, as Petra raised an eyebrow.

"Overworked? Right, his vigilante work…" Petra thought to herself, as she looked toward Banjou, before opening her mouth. "It brought too many memories. Memories that grandfather told me shouldn't stop me from being who I'm meant to be."

"And what's that? A Princess of Brigid?" Banjou asked her, making Petra look toward him in confusion. "Because I don't think that'll fit you."

"What makes you say that?" Petra asked him, somewhat offended by Banjou's statement.

"I mean, look at you. Highly intelligent to a degree, good fighting, though can be polished up. Great personality. And you're chosen as a princess for a country that's not free? Really?" Banjou asked, Petra seemingly getting a little aggravated.

"What do you mean? Brigid is independent; they're indebted to the Adrestian Empire for losing the war. A war in which you disappeared shortly before the end of." Petra responded with, Banjou now getting a bit aggravated.

"And yet Brigid's forced to be fighting in a war most of them don't want to fight in? Doesn't that sound like they're being forced to against their will?"

Petra seemingly winced at that, as she seemingly became conflicted with it.

"You really do support Edelgard, do you?"

"She was the only reason I even attended the officer's academy. My grandfather told me I was some kind of…'gift' to the Empire. I…" She began, seemingly in deep thought about everything.

"Oi, if Edelgard knows about the Build Driver…"

"Then she'd turn everyone else into ash. Everyone else will die…" Petra realized. "We can't let her have it."

"Well, then why the hell are we going to Oche to meet her?" Bernie asked them, surprising the two, as they looked toward her.

"Bernadetta, didn't you say you'd support Edelgard?" Petra asked her, Bernie seemingly looking toward them somewhat shyly.

"Edelgard would never do that...but seeing who she was? Back there…" she told her, as Petra simply stared back at her in a bit of absolute baffling. "...I don't want to lose the only home I still have. All the books and the beautiful nature and…"

"So you're on our side to stop Edelgard if she gets my dragon and tries to unleash it on everyone?" Banjou asked her, Bernadetta seemingly hesitating for a moment...but just for said moment, before nodding her head.

"If it means the war can finally be over... if it means that no one has to die...maybe." She told them, as Banjou simply smacked himself on the head.

"Maybe?!" He shouted, leading Bernie to recoil a bit in fear. "I'm all the way with you guys! Just don't hurt me!"

Petra gave an incredulous look toward the Dragon Rider, Banjou simply sighing as he kneeled next to the Varley noble.

"Ain't gonna hurt you now. Gonna make sure you aren't hurt either." He told her, trying to calm her down. "Also, I'm horrible in calming people down."

That last part was to himself.

Bernie crawled back into her book near the tree...but a light smile could be seen on her face. If only for a second.

"So...about that training, Banjou?" She asked him, only for Banjou to wave a hand in dismissal.

"We're on the beach! More enjoying the nice weather and wallowing in self-pity, less in training; we'll do that when we get in Oche!" He shouted, seemingly resting on the shore as Petra chuckled, resting on the shore. It...reminded her of a time before. A time far before...

* * *

_(Brigid; Imperial Year 1175) _

_"And this, Mr. Banjou, is the spirit of fire! Rawr!" A younger Petra shouted, her and Banjou resting on the beach happily. The young prince Alief watched in the background, a genuine smile on her face as she dragged a stick around, a crude drawing of what seemed to be some type of figure on it._

_ "What the hell does he represent?" He asked, the Cross-Z Dragon floating around him. _

_ "He represents bravery; Daddy said the Spirit of Fire is the power of the Spirit of Earth. The rival of the Spirit of Nature! The weakness to the Spirit of Water! He's the compassionate spirit who never dies!" She shouted as she raised a fist in what seemed to be some type of heroic pose. This ended up leading to a chuckle from both Banjou and Alief, the latter of whom decided to step forward. _

_ "Getting a bit more enthusiastic, are we, young Petra?" He asked, her chuckling in response. "Come on now; the sun's setting; Grandpa's making some royal dinner for you." _

_ "Yay!" She yelled, running back toward the town, two guards rushing in chase as Alief turned to Banjou, Banjou staring at him, as Alief sighed. _

_"This war bogging you down?" Banjou asked him nonchalantly. _

_"This war tore me apart. Something's...very wrong with it. The Adrestians were always powerful...but they feel like they've grown a bit too much. A bit too much in a matter of just four years. Especially without the Church's influence…" Alief mentioned, pausing to think about his words carefully._

_"Could just be something related to them not having the Church. Maybe they could do whatever they want." He told the Brigidian prince._

_"No...this is much worse than that." Alief stated, rubbing his beard in worry._

_ "What do you mean? Something bad?" Banjou asked him, Alief sighing in thought. _

_ "Something deep in the shadows is manipulating everyone. It feels that way. It's already shown itself to the Fodlanders's shore...problem is, is that it's yet to unveil itself. That is what I wish to believe."_

_Unaware to the two, Petra hid behind a thick bush, listening to the two's conversation whilst the guards were seemingly going after a thief of some kind whom was stalking them._

* * *

_(Garreg Mach, Imperial Year 1180)_

_Petra walked around the Adrestian's war tent, noticing everyone around her. Bernadetta looked very obviously terrified of the whole thing. Dorothea seemingly was trying to calm said Varley noble down. Linheart was sleeping, per usual. Everyone else was either not in the room, or seemingly gone off to prepare for what would be the beginning of the end._

_Edelgard had declared war on the rest of Fodlan's people. Specifically, Rhea's Church of Seiros._

_Through all of this, Petra seemingly began in thought about the whole situation she'd landed herself in. Edelgard being the so-called "Flame Emperor"? Dimitri seemingly drowning himself in insanity? It all seemed surreal to her._

_Petra instinctively began walking out of the room, as everyone seemingly looked in reaction to Petra just wandering off._

_"Petra, where exactly are you going?__" Dorothea asked, a worried look seen on her face._

"I'm simply going outside. For some new air_." She told Dorothea, walking outside the tent they were in. In fact, she'd walked out of the camp they were hiding in._

_She wandered around the forest, breathing in the fresh forest air, as fireflies flew around the land, lighting the night up. She sat against a tree, as she arrived near the top of a hill. She looked ahead, seeing the lights of Garreg Mach in the background._

_If this was any other day, she would've thought the sight of Garreg Mach would be beautiful, what with its foreign architecture, its placement near the mountains...all of it. And on top of that, she would've seen it as some safe place to be. That day was not today however. Especially when she heard a rustling behind her._

_Raising her sword toward whomever was sneaking on her, she twinged, as Edelgard stared cooly at the sword aimed directly close to her throat, as Petra hurriedly lowered it._

_"Edelgard...you nearly killed me." Petra stated in shock, lowering her weapon, as Edelgard kept a calm face to her._

_"I can see quite the opposite too. At the very least, you can still keep your senses in check." She told her, a small hint of a smile present on her face. "What exactly are you doing outside of the camp? Quite a risky move, to put it bluntly."_

_"I came to think. Back in Brigid, I used to have someone whom I was friends with...one of my first and only friends in the kingdom. Most of the warlords back home never had kids; considered them "threats" to their rule." She told her. Though Petra was seemingly lost in thought, Edelgard twinged a bit at the statement._

_"What about him?" Edelgard asked her curiously, as Petra sighed._

_"His name was Banjou. A very nice man; he'd always be what my father referred to as 'vulgar' and 'short-tempered'. But he had taught me all that he knew about fighting. He taught me stories about where he came from; a faraway land called 'Japan'; a mostly advanced hidden society. They told me all about how they had a massive wall dividing them, and how there was a war. About an enemy turned rogue, a farmer turned soldier, a genius and him saved…" She began, Edelgard seemingly sweating in reaction to the whole thing, eventually raising a hand to cover Petra's mouth._

_"I do believe I get the point, Petra. No need to continue." She stated, Petra sighing as she stopped._

_"...Edelgard, your face is quite red. Are you okay?" Petra asked her, for which the newly-crowned empress simply responded by turning away._

_"Yes...just clearing out any last minute thoughts about the invasion. Could you perhaps fetch me some water, Petra?"_

_Petra simply nodded, the Brigidian heiress rushing back to camp, as Edelgard finally collapsed to the ground, tears threatening to rip out her eyes and onto the soft ground. Memories spurred together as she looked up to Garreg Mach, tears finally beginning to flow down._

_"...what have I done?" She stated, as Petra watched from a distance._

* * *

_(Brigid, Imperial Year 1185) _

_Petra simply stared outside. It'd been a long day, what with looking after her elder grandfather, whose health seemingly began to falter. She simply looked down, a sigh coming out of her, as she wandered around the walls of the castle. _

_The ten year anniversary of the end of the war was already upon them in the coming months. Petra simply wasn't going to have any of it. It brought painful memories at the very least. _

"_Spirits be damned, Banjou. Where have you gone?" She said to herself, staring around the hallway of the castle, it being quite evident with her whispered voice echoing throughout the chamber. _

"_...so you want to know where he is, don't you?" A distorted voice spoke out, Petra immediately raising her sword up in some sort of retaliation, her eyes darting around for any sign of the owner of said voice._

"_Where are you? What do you know about him?" She shouted, the voice seemingly not revealing itself. _

"_Enough for you to reunite with him. Bring your childhood back to you." The voice stated, a low chuckle reverberating throughout the hall. _

"_Then show yourself!" Petra shouted, seemingly crazed as she pointed her sword every which way. _

_Only to find nothing but walls and decorations around her. _

"_In due time. For now, he's been rumored to be not too far from Nuvelle. Might be able to catch him if you get there quick enough." It explained, Petra seemingly still very suspicious. _

"_Quelling you're suspicions, I'll throw you this little trinket I still have from him as proof." _

_Something proceeded to be thrown Petra's way, sending her tumbling to the ground. _

_Looking at it, Petra stared at the weird circular object, noticing its blue color and its image of a dragon at the front. _

_The Dragon Fullbottle. Of course, Petra didn't exactly know this yet. _

_As she rushed to tell the news and to prepare everything, she stopped for a moment near the end of the hallway, looking back toward it. _

"_Who are you?" She asked. _

_The voice simply gave a second low chuckle. _

"_Call me...Stalk." It said back, as Petra rushed out of the hallway._

* * *

Petra simply lowered her head, before looking toward Banjou, who seemingly was just...asleep there. Enjoying the small break they had.

She would've told him everything about what she had remembered. But as Banjou told her…

...it can wait until Oche.

* * *

**Hey guys, sorry about the author's note down here. Edited in last minute. There's one last thing I want to mention; I'm gonna try something similiar to a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), except it'll be about fanfiction. An AMAAF, if you will. (Ask Me Anything About Fanfiction). So, personal opinions on authors, other fandoms and fanfics, you name, I'll answer it...as long as it's about fanfiction or about anything 'fan' related. Just PM a question and I'll answer it during the beginning of the next chapter. Which as I mentioned is in the works. Obviously, no toxicity allowed. That's about it. Anyways, chao.**


	6. Royal Deception

**AN: So...promised you guys two chapters in November and it's late January already. Great job me. Anywho, how should I explain this...ah yes. Getting sick, then being stuck with constant rewrites, and overall just entering and exiting a low point within my years on this Earth. I'm fine, in case you're wondering; it wasn't that bad; in fact, it was mostly just being bogged down by work and generally being a more social being out there in the world. And again, going through constant rewriting of the next chapters as every outcome felt unsatisfying or downright insulting at worst. So, I'm finally back. I'll update when I can. No promises though. Also, be prepared for a second story to pop up soon. Don't worry; both stories won't be abandoned. Even if it takes a decade and no posts in years, it'll be done. Hopefully. Maybe. But no promises. ;) **

**Though I must ask those of you reading...**

**Should there be shipping in here? I've been dabbling in the idea, but I fear that it'll turn into something which feels the same as most other stories, or to the point where it can be considered realistic. Anywho, if you have anymore questions or criticisms, ask away! I'll answer freely. And honest. About fanfiction. Because why not. Otherwise, enjoy!**

* * *

The chatter of civilians. The banging of bells.

Seemingly once again reawakening from a nap, Banjou looked around him, noticing Bernadetta a little jumpy on the other side of the carriage. Then he realized where he was.

Oche. A place where Imperial morale and spirit was strong. Banners rolled across the area, the proud eagle and the symbol for the Adrestian Empire seen to all. Civilians walked together with foot soldiers. Everyone that was a person at least seemed happy.

A bit too happy in Banjou's eyes. Suspiciously so.

"What are you thinking about?" Petra asked, as she was next to the Muscle, concerned for him as he stared outside the window of the carriage.

"I don't know. Don't you think these people seem...a little too happy. Forced, maybe?" He asked, only for Petra to raise an eyebrow in reaction.

"I don't see how you can force a population to smile." She stated, Banjou nodding his head sideways.

"Trust me...there are ways of doing it; it's been done before in my world." He mumbled to himself, the carriage coming to an abrupt stop.

"Ladies, sir, we've arrived outside of the Imperial embassy." The driver stated, two guards rushing up to open the doors.

"Imperial embassy? Are they serious?" Banjou asked the two, only to see Petra give a shrug in reaction and Bernadetta not even listening to the two, busy being unusually quiet. Or usually, depending on whom it was.

Up ahead, the doors were wide open, internal alarms going off in Banjou's head as he walked behind the two 'Adrestian' women, as they got out of the carriage.

"This seems widely suspicious…" Banjou whispered to Petra, who looked toward Banjou.

"I believe we must, as they say, 'play it off' for the time being. We will know the truth soon enough." She told him, as they entered the massive foyer. Chandeliers reigned above them, them by itself almost blinding to their eyes.

A massive fountain laid ahead, grand regal stairs leading up to another massive set of doors.

Guards were obviously everywhere, probably for obvious security reasons, as a very edgy-looking man stood near the fountain, two guards on either side of him. A red book laid at his waist, no other weapons present. He seemed to creep Bernadetta out just with a stare of neutrality on his face, as he looked toward Petra.

If she was in any way fazed, it didn't show. At least not to him.

"Ah; Lady Petra, Lady Bernadetta. How lovely of you to arrive with us at this dire hour." He stated, though this didn't quell Petra's suspicions in the slightest.

"Hubert...where is Edelgard?" Petra inquired toward the noble, as he gave a stern look at her.

"Currently, she's been locked up in her room a few buildings down. Personal matters, she had stated. While I would love to barge into the room and drag her out of there to meet you, I would rather not meet the edge of an axe. Or suffer her fury. She will be out when needed to. For now, we have set up rooms for both of you and her and…" Hubert began to explain in a sarcastic manner, before locking eyes with Banjou.

He clearly gave a look of absolute suspicion toward the noble, and received one in return. The two probably didn't like each other at all. Which to Petra made absolute sense considering their looks alone.

"Whoever your guest is, I would advise keeping this man on a tight leash. If any of the nobles further east get wind of a commoner visiting Edelgard freely, all hell will break loose. They don't take kindly to them receiving...more attention." Hubert commented, Banjou seemingly on the verge of leaping on top of the guy.

"And I don't think I take kindly to your little attitude, Flopper." He told Hubert, who seemingly recoiled in a bit of offense.

"I do believe we should start going, Banjou…" Petra whispered, attempting to drag the Muscle away from the noble, as Bernadetta rushed herself away to her temporary room before the confrontation got ugly.

"Yeah...wouldn't want to waste another breath on this emo-looking money grubber." He mumbled loud enough for Petra to hear, as he was dragged away to their room, daggers being seen between Hubert and Banjou as Hubert muttered something incomprehensibly.

"I do believe that was not the best first impression, Banjou. We do not want more suspicion latching onto us." Petra whispered to him, as Banjou seemingly began to walk normally next to Petra, his face red as a tomato from the built up anger.

"He gives off way too many warning signs; he's hiding something. Something which can get me back home. Back to Touto. Back to Sento and them." He told her, Petra looking in a tinge of worry.

"You never told me much about your home. What was it like?" She asked Banjou.

"Other than what I've already told you when you were younger?" He responded, Petra chuckling just a little bit in reaction to such.

"Yes. Was it more advanced than here?"

"About 500 years maybe. I dunno; Sento was better with the numbers." He told Petra, leading her into some type of shock.

And for the first time in a long time, her curiosity began to peak.

Whilst all this was going on, the Cross-Z Dragon was seemingly floating around the outside, seemingly not being noticed by the crowds below. Flying around the building the group was in, the dragon noticed an open window. Swooping in, the device seemingly scanned for anything of importance. It then sensed footsteps entering, and hid itself on the windowsill, as the two entered.

"...we realize the risk of such a device falling into the hands on either the Leicester Alliance or the Kingdom of Faerghus." A man's voice stated,clearly somewhat frustrated with whatever it was.

"It's a possiblity that we may have to risk. My spies report that the two kingdoms are planning on uniting their forces against us at Fort Merceus. Having everyone that we have on our side meet here will guarantee a chance to at least hold out our positions in the north until reinforcements come from Brigid." A feminine voice responded to the man.

"But Empress…" he began, seemingly being interrupted before he could continue as he stopped.

"Minister Himuro...you know exactly how bad the situation seems, correct? Seeing as your results have given us these...what exactly did you call it?" The feminine voice asked out of pure interest.

"Fullbottles. They were with me when you found me." The masculine voice stated. "Bat...Crocodile...Diamond. Alongside the weapons that you wanted to mass produce."

"And we couldn't because…"

"Do you understand how bad it could get out there? Your men cannot handle weapons like this out there. Especially not with the rest of Fodlan breathing down your throat, Edelgard."

"That dosen't matter to me right now." Edelgard told him, only to silence to follow for a bit, before she continued.

"I know, Gentoku...I know." Edelgard stated, much to Gentoku's disappointed look. "That's why we are the only ones who know about it. And Hubert too. He's trustworthy enough for both of us. You understand that, correct?"

"I understand." Was the simple response that could be heard.

"Very well. Leave me with the Sclash Driver and the purple bottle. I wish to learn of its power. Especially with the effect it has on me." Edelgard stated, as the slamming of a door could be heard afterward.

The Cross-Z Dragon then heard footsteps as Edelgard walked to the balcony where the dragon was, slowly walking up to it in suspicion, the Sclash Driver in one hand and her open other hand.

"...No." She could muster, herself visibly shaking in realization at what she was looking at. Not only that, but a distant laugh was heard, freezing her in place as her eyes continued to lock onto the dragon.

_The bloodcurling screams...the ritual-like torture…_

_And then she heard it... the laugh of a madman. No._

_The laugh of human evolution itself._

Her distraction into the nightmare she was seemingly in thought over was the way the dragon was going for, swiftly turning back into its draconic-like form and fluttered away, Edelgard snapping out of said thing to attempt to go after it, tears quickly forming down her face.

"It...it is him." She whispered in full on realization. As she looked over at the Cross-Z Dragon, which seemingly flew into a window a few buildings away, she stared toward the purple bottle left behind, her free hand moving to her chest in reaction.

* * *

_(At the same time…)_

Bernadetta seemingly sat on her bed, cuddling her book, as she watched outside the window patiently.

She saw as Petra and Banjou were seemingly fighting each other, some type of mock practice type aspect. And saw for about the tenth time, Petra landing on her back, as Banjou gave a smug smile at her.

"You got the whole speed and kick thing going for you...not so much on the quick recovery though." Banjou stated with a low chuckle, Petra responding with a small scowl as she got up.

"This is why I'm more proficient with a sword. Like your...what did you call it? Beat Crosser?" Petra asked him, for which Banjou simply returned her question with a small tilt of the head.

"A sword isn't gonna save you when you're disarmed and have nothing else left." He told her, leading to Petra seemingly fuming in a small amount of anger, rushing toward him with a multitude of punches, the majority of which Banjou took. And laughed about. LOUDLY. Enough for a certain someone to have painful memories on a balcony.

Seemingly not content with just bashing the shit out of Banjou's stomach, Petra attempted to launch a roundhouse kick toward him...and this is where Banjou actually took the situation seriously, ducking underneath.

Bernadetta simply watched with a very small amount of interest, trying to mimic a punch herself.

As the two continued on, they could hear footsteps approaching the two, as Petra and Banjou lowered hands.

"Matter of practice; that's all." He told her, walking away, as Hubert approached them.

"Ah...seems you're training. Pardon the interruption, but I'm only here to remind you about tonight." He stated, leading to Petra giving a confused look.

"...ah, it seems that Edelgard forgot to notify you before; there's going to be a gathering tonight. In the main dance hall. She wishes to speak with you there. The rest of the nobles from the Adrestian Empire will be there. Formal wear only, it seems." Hubert stated, before looking up.

"I do believe also that the Empress wishes to speak with you...in private tonight. I personally don't have any clue what it may be about...but it seemed quite urgent." He had warned Petra, before whisking himself away, leaving Petra alone in the courtyard.

As she stood there, the Cross-Z Dragon flew in front of her once Hubert was out of view to either of them, leading out a screech.

"...what do you mean we might be in danger?" She stated to the dragon, as the low chuckle was heard once more.

"The robot's right, young Mac." A voice told her from around Petra, Petra immediately recognizing the voice.

"...Stalk?" She asked around her, not noticing a shadow figure within the bushels around her.

"Seems the young Empress wants something from you." Stalk told her.

"Yeah…" Petra asked. "How'd you know?"

"What? Can't a person keep his little secrets?" Stalk responded, Petra seemingly continuing to search for any trace of Stalk. "...I'd rather you don't bring someone like Banjou."

"...why?" She asked suspiciously, as a low laugh would be heard.

"Banjou has...personal experience with the Empress. He'll possibly kill her on sight. Imagine the ramifications of a beloved empress falling to a low scoundrel who's affiliated with Brigid's own princess…a new war would start...perhaps Brigid would be razed like Dagda before it." Stalk warned, as Petra immediately winced, her fists seemingly tightening in reaction.

"Don't you dare speak of that…" she mumbled underneath her breath.

This only seemed to please the mysterious Stalk more, his laugh echoing throughout the garden.

"See you soon...young MacNeary…" he responded, his voice simply stopping, as Petra seemingly visibly shivered a little bit.

* * *

_(Later that night…)_

As Banjou sighed, he laid down on his bed, hearing the two women preparing for the 'gathering'. The light of the sunset landed on his cheeks, as he was seemingly bored out of his mind.

"Are you sure you'll be fine out there, Petra?" Banjou asked, clearly worried for the Brigidian noble.

"I will be fine, Banjou. For the twenty-fifth time." Petra replied behind the door, her answer not sitting well with him. "You on the other hand, I'd have to worry about. The possibility of you being alone could have ramifications of their own."

Bernadetta simply stayed silent, alright dressed in quite a simple black dress. Obviously, she felt mildly uncomfortable in such, visibly shaking from such.

"Well maybe we'd be fine if we didn't have to worry about the war...the Church of Seiros surprise attacking us...Edelgard." Banjou began listing off possible threats to them as a whole, not exactly helping Bernadetta's potential anxiety attack from wearing off. If anything, she shook in fear even more.

"Banjou, you worry too much." She told him. "A decade is quite a long time for someone to grow as a person."

Petra walked out, seemingly in what seemed to be some elegant silk magenta dress, as her various different necklaces and accessories dangled across her persona.

Banjou simply looked up for a brief moment, shaking his head in acceptance.

"Not bad, MacNeary...not bad." He told her, Petra seemingly blushing a little in reaction.

..Banjou was quick to try and not turn it into a third relationship. "Not like that!"

"I am somewhat aware of your meaning, Banjou. Dorothea taught me much about the idea of what she referred to as 'foreplay'." Petra told him, Banjou simply irked by such a statement, as Bernie looked toward them.

"I think we might want to get going...it's getting dark outside." She told Petra with some form of ominous fear, Petra simply replying with a chuckle.

"It'll be alright." Petra told Bernie, as she began walking out, looking toward Banjou. "Stay safe."

"You too." Banjou replied, Bernie quickly following suite, slowly closing the door as he sighed, laying on the bed. It seemed this was an opportune time for the Cross-Z Dragon, as it swooped down in Banjou's direction, landing hard on his stomach, a muttering of "Oof." being heard out of the Muscle-Head.

"...what do you want?" He asked the dragon with an annoyed tone, as it screeched in a somewhat rushed fashion.

"...Edelgard has what?" he said in a big amount of concern, as it once again continued screeching.

"...shit." he simply replied, looking out the window. The sound of chatter was heard, as various different carriages and winged horses began descending upon the town, the various nobles of the Adrestian Empire arriving in some type of style.

He looked to the Cross-Z Dragon, then back to the main hall, before hatching up an idea.

"Follow them. Don't get spotted." he commanded to the dragon, which nodded before blasting off in the direction of the hall via the window, Banjou looking back.

"...seems it's time to crash a party." He told himself, rushing off to grab his gauntlets.

* * *

"Relax, Bernadetta. If Edelgard knows us, she will…"

"What if she tries to kill us for the belt! Kill Banjou!" Bernie nearly shouted, Petra placing a hand over her mouth to try and muffle the rest of Bernadetta's fears.

"She would not. We fought together when Garreg Mach was invaded. We were a team; if she were to betray us now, it would be ill-advised. They would open up too many fronts, and the Church will simply receive another ally in this war. She would not risk that." Petra stated to her, as she noticed the various nobles arriving inside the main hall. Bernie's social anxiety rose, as Petra stayed close to the Varley noble, passing by the various Adrestian noblemen. She didn't recognize any of them… except for one, who seemingly walked up to give them a hug.

"Ah; if it isn't Petra and our lovable Bernadetta!" Dorothea yelled, seemingly hugging the two in a tight hug. Bernie, very obviously was quite uncomfortable in such as scenario.

"Dorothea? I'd assume you were at the opera back in Enbarr; what are you doing here?" She stated, genuinely surprised at Dorothea's appearance here.

"Well, someone over here has to entertain the masses, don't they?" Dorothea responded with a chuckle, as she looked over towards the men and women around them. "Edelgard also wished to...discuss something here. I'm guessing you got the same thing?" She asked her, for which Petra simply gave a weak smile.

"Yes; it does seem Edelgard is being rather secretive as of recently isn't she?" Petra asked, for which Dorothea lead out a laugh.

"Yes...it does seem rather so. Must've picked up a few tips from yours truly."

Petra lead out a chuckle, as Hubert seemingly made his grand appearance up on the top of the massive staircase, attempting to gather everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen; I'd like to personally thank you for your arrival! I'm afraid some of the other men and women we invited will not appear today due to their duties but I assure you, the Empress herself thanks you for your arrival at this dire time. We as a united front have endured five and a half years of constant war between us, and the Church of Seiros, alongside it's puppets that their armies dangle from; today, we will attempt to bring forward a new era of warfare; a new era in which a thousand year old regime is torn down from its very core, limb from limb. Ladies and gentlemen, may I properly introduce to you Empress Edelgard herself, and with her, Gentoku Himuro, head of the newly devised research development of the Adrestian Empire!" Hubert announced, as Edelgard herself made her presence known, stepping out the set of doors behind him.

With her, an older man stepped into view, his hair seemingly kempt and quite neat. His little mustache and facial hair also complimented him quite a bit. Many women among the crowd seemingly were fawning over him, the men with them having faces and looks ranging from pure confusion to near-fits of anger toward Himuro.

Petra and Bernadetta weren't amused in the slightest. Although that might've been due to Petra's mild curiosity at Hubert's words combined with Bernadetta's continued anxiety attack.

"New era of warfare?" She thought to herself worryingly, as she widened her eyes, staring up toward the top of the staircase, seemingly zoning out the majority of what Edelgard had talked about.

"...enjoy the festivities." Edelgard stated before the crowd broke themselves apart, leaving Petra and Bernadetta there, as Gentoku followed Edelgard down.

"...Gentoku, keep an eye out for Bernadetta. I don't want her to be alone; her outbursts of anxiety could be our downfall." Edelgard warned the man, as he nodded, before Edelgard gave a blank stare towards him. "And no, she isn't into your...weird fashion choices in case you ask. Speak with Dorothea about that, I'm sure she'll get some enjoyment out of that."

With that out of the way, Edelgard made her way to Petra as Gentoku began his way to Bernadetta.

Petra simply looked a bit suspicious at such, as Edelgard placed a hand on Petra.

"It's been a while, Princess." Edelgard stated, making Petra seemingly jump a bit in suspicion as she turned in the Empress's direction "How has your grandfather been?"

Petra soured at the thought.

"Distant...he still rules Brigid with the kindness that he was known for, but it becomes clear that Brigid is suffering through desperate times indeed." She replied to Edelgard, as the Empress's own face soured at the thought of it.

"That's quite sad to hear, unfortunately...but he will have to get better soon, if Brigid is to become fully part of the Adrestian Empire. Come, my friend; let us discuss in a more private scenario."

Petra said nothing to that statement as she blindly followed Edelgard forward.

"Why did we have to discuss this in private?" Petra whispered to Edelgard, the two going up the staircase.

"All will be explained when we arrive, Petra. I would rather prevent a possible mutiny from occuring...you know how some people tend to be when given a secret only they know about." Edelgard explained, making it all but confirmed to Petra that she was talking about Banjou. And by extension, the Build Driver they had.

The two would eventually stop at what seemed to be a hallway, Edelgard seemingly locking the gate behind her once Petra entered ahead of her.

Was the Empress going to regret what was going to happen next? Perhaps...but it was all for the future of Fodlan.

Then a distant explosion could be heard.

* * *

(_A couple minutes ago, around the same time)_

Bernadetta, seemingly knowing how awkward she'd be at this party, slowly sat in the far back of the gathering, as she drunk what seemed to look like some type of tea, her visible shaking not faltering in the slightest. As she did so, she seemingly latched her book _Batcroc_ close to her, almost like she'd die without it.

"So...you're a fan of my book?" A man's voice asked the Varley noble, her jumping up in fear, as she looked around for the source of the voice.

It came in the form of what seemed to be an oddly fashioned man, purple tunic on with what seemed to be fine golden silk leggings. His face was one of curiosity and interest, as he looked toward Bernie's book.

"Didn't mean to scare you; was simply wondering if you're a fan of my book. You know, seeing as you're clutching it like you'll die without it." The man replied, Bernadetta slowly lowering the book as she looked just a little relieved and obviously quite shocked as she was staring at what seemed to be the man responsible for it.

"...You..you're G.H.?!" She said in a mix amount of surprise and shock, as Gentoku simply laughed in reaction.

"That I am, Ms. Varley. An honor to see that a noblewoman such as yourself genuinely likes my book...maybe a little too much…" Gentoku replied, mumbling the last part, before giving out a smile. "Now come; I see you feel quite stuffed in a group with the amount of people here."

Bernadetta simply nodded, blindly following the man through a sea of nobles...just semi-important men and women. Alongside the major nobles that somehow hold Adrestia together. Especially in this day and age.

Eventually, Gentoku lead Bernadetta to what seemed to be a backyard, a small garden seemingly present.

"Much more comfortable for you?" He asked, Bernie nodding in reply. "Good."

It got real quiet for a bit, as the two looked around the place in awkward silence.

"...could I ask you a couple of questions about your book?" Bernadetta surprisngly spoke, breaking the tensious silence in the room.

Gentoku looked genuinely surprised, as he looked around.

"I'm sure I won't mind. At least for the next hour or so, anyhow." He stated, as he sat down.

"I want to ask first; this story...is it true?" Bernadetta asked him, Gentoku raising an eyebrow at the question for a second before he thought of a quick response.

"Partially. Obviously, I'm not a bat and crocodile, but the context is certainly true." He answered. Panged memories surfaced in his head.

_Torture via the Pandora Box and Seito's military._ _His father bleeding profusely. Evol simply laughing as he walked away, Gentoku not showing any other emotion than shock. _

_Then Evolto came back and turned his father into nothing more than ash. The birth of an insane Rogue. All his vision being full of blood. The world turning against Sento._

_Grease's death...Misora's tears. Vernage's silence._

_Sawa's tears. His own death._

"...Mr. G.H, are you okay?" Bernadetta asked him, Gentoku realizing that he was staring into the distance, as he quickly shook out of them and recomposed himself, staring towards Bernadetta.

"Call me Gentoku, my friend. I'm...remembering things that I based the book out of." He stated, looking off towards the moon as it shined brightly. He seemed to go offtopic, however.

"...I hope somewhere out there...Sento and Banjou are smiling. Protecting whatever's left of this wor…" He began thinking about, before the sound of rustling bushes would be heard, a crazed dirty Banjou punching the bushes out of the way, as he locked eyes with Gentoku.

"...you have to be kidding me." Gentoku stated in shock, Banjou seemingly having equal amounts of it.

"Gentoku? What are you, Edelgard's personal jester?" Banjou asked, Gentoku genuinely being offended by such.

"I'll have you know that I've started a fashion trend across Fodlan with my outfits!" He shouted, as Bernadetta...began chuckling. The two looked to her in a small amount of annoyance.

She was seemingly enjoying their bickery a little bit.

Then, a distant explosion would be heard.

"Hm...seems one of the kingdoms chose an inopportune time to be attacking this city." Gentoku whispered to himself, seemingly pulling something out of the inside of his tunic, revealing it to seemingly be some type of gun, as Banjou tilted his head in confusion. He knew what it was. And was the only one to know what it was.

"...how the hell did you even get a Transteam Gun?" Banjou asked, as Gentoku also pulled out what seemed to be a Fullbottle from his leggings pocket, inserting it into an empty slot on the gun.

_**[ Bat!]**_

"...it comes with the tunic." Gentoku joked with, as he noticed wyverns approaching, dropping down what seemed to be arrows on any Adrestian soldier in sight. They were wearing blue.

"Kingdom of Faerghus it seems." He stated, looking toward Bernadetta and Banjou.

"Banjou, if any come close to you, don't hesitate to knock their lights out. That's an order." Gentoku commanded, smirking as he seemingly inspected the weapon with all its glory.

"Hey; you aren't the leader of Touto, Gentoku!" Banjou yelled out, as he pointed the gun away from him.

"Fine...protect Varley...I'd rather not lost a fan." He stated, smirking. "Jouketsu."

_**[Mist Match!]**_

Mist surrounded his entire being, Banjou quickly moving back toward Bernadetta, as she looked between the two.

_**[Bat!]**_

A black silhouette seemingly formed around Gentoku, as silvery metal began to stick to him.

_[**..B-Bat!]**_

A yellow light could be seen, the rough shape of a bat being shown where Gentoku's face used to be. The mist dissipated to reveal a silvery and black like figure, with the bat-like face showed.

**_[Fire!]_ **

Fireworks were fired from the shoulder pads, almost setting some of the garden on fire in some areas, as Banjou looked in somewhat amusement.

"...I would question why you're Night Rogue, but I guess that had something to do with…"

"They're wyverns, Banjou. I don't need to reveal more than needs to be. Now…" he responded, immediately jumping over the gardens towards the sound of the disturbance.

"...I swear.." Banjou simply mumbled to himself, as he rushed back inside, Bernadetta following in haste.

* * *

A sword. That was what was in Petra's hand.

"You want me to…"

"No." Edelgard simply stated, her face twisting in a small amount of thought. "I'm aware Banjou Ryuga is with you. His secret is kept with me...only if you give me the Build Driver."

Petra simply looked down for a moment. Remembering what she saw in Banjou. Remembering Sento's messages...remembering the last one she saw.

* * *

_(Hours earlier, the bathroom to Petra's temporary room)_

Staring towards the Cross-Z Dragon, she seemingly noticed the hundreds upon hundreds of logs from Sento.

Clicking on the last one was a mistake to her.

What she saw was a weary Sento, his eyes seemingly dry from what was probably crying. The once bright and white lab now had a sick green aura around it, the room around him with the only light there being on Sento's face.

_"Kazumi...that idiot. He and my father...Evolto... "_ he stated to himself. It seemed to be something no one else but Banjou was allowed to see. Petra felt quite ashamed in the situation for jumping right to the end. Finding out a partial truth to the bigger encompassing past that was Banjou Ryuga and friends.

_"...that damn bastard injured Gentoku. He's got Banjou questioning himself. He's even gotten rid of the very thing that could stop him...Banjou...whoever this is...if you're there. We will fail. We could sacrifice our lives and he may still be alive. Whatever happens, future user of this belt...future Cross-Z...do not fight for war. For revenge. For some type of money or goods. No. Fight to protect the innocent. To protect the wishes of every human out there."_

_"To protect the future.. in the name of love and peace!"_

* * *

"...you'll have to get through me first." Petra warned Edelgard, a sad smile crossing Edelgard's lips. "I will not allow more destruction to corrupt this place...to corrupt my home."

With that said, Edelgard and Petra both raised their swords, as Edelgard slowly breathed, not noticing the sound of Dorothea busting through the door in search of the two. Probably to tell them about the attack.

Edelgard smiled.

"...then let us begin."


	7. Nightfall

**AN: Ah, alright. Time to publish a new chapter of this story, how long has it been? **

**9 months? Well, shite. **

**In all seriousness, I did warn you guys that indeed, updates are gonna be random as hell. I originally thought that I was gonna be able to finish this chapter by the end of January or early February (of 2020, for those of you from the future) but…and this is an honest time here. I had a hell of a lot of trouble writing this chapter. There were a hell of a lot of outcomes I was thinking that were eventually scrapped. A lot of variartions on what happened. I won't spoil them; maybe in a later chapter. But still. **

**I did take a long hiatus. Took a step back, looked at other fanfics. Came to appreciate some of them. Came to dislike some of them. Reconsider some stuff I've been doing previously. I won't get into details considering how long this author's note is, but...I mean, if you're new here, thanks for coming. For those of you returning, I thank you for your patience with the unannounced disappearance. It's well appreciated.**

**I'll also start to respond to some responses on the reviews here as well. That way, you know that I'm always reading them. **

**linkthetoaoftime- Thank you. I mean, without spoiling anything, Gentoku will be more important later on. But hey; two down, a few to go, right? **

**Kagenobaka- Ah, Kazumi. Trust me; he and the boys in a good place (again, without spoiling anything). **

**TheOkWriter- And so...it does. **

**Anyways, I won't take any more of your time reading this already long author's note when you just want to see what happens next in this story. I just want you to know that I enjoy entertaining or at the very least having people here to read this fanfic. Anyways, as always, feedback will always appreciated. Everyone can improve, including me. **

**Let's get this show on the road. **

—

The burning flames of war. Scattered among them crimson petals, a solemn reminder of what truly used to be. A reminder that things were no longer as they once were.

That everything, even that of trust, was limited, as they burned into nothing more than ash.

And so, as Edelgard and Petra stared at one another across a hallway, echoes of the dying screaming around them both of the Kingdom and Empire alike, steel swords aimed at one another, and a shocked Dorothea staring between the two. The silence the three had was quite deafening in the face of war, especially with their environment torn down around them. But it was clear that the silence would not last forever.

"...why do you wish to fight me, Edelgard?" Petra asked quite genuinely, as she looked to the Empress for any type of reaction. Whether verbally or emotionally.

"...fight?" Dorothea inquired, deciding to step between the two. Not in the literal sense, but rather she stepped closer to the two, their attention briefly on the songstress. "...why do you two want to fight? This is senseless, with the Kingdom attacking now of all times. Aren't we all friends?"

"I must ask the same Edelgard. Why? And more importantly...how do you know the name of Banjou's driver?" She asked her. The Empress still gave the two a cool look. But inside? She was fighting some internal war. Holding back the memories. Holding back the trauma. Her crests began to flare up inside of her, threatening to burst her heart in flames.

What those people in the dark did to her. Joining with the madman. And what said madman must have been planning for some chance meeting like this.

"...Petra, you hold valuable technology. Technology that could benefit the Empire. Benefit us. End the war quicker…" Edelgard began, with a small amount of shaking in her voice. It was clear Petra wasn't buying that completely, her face contorting into that of visible frustration...not to mention her body started shaking.

"The war will only be worse! There will be more bloodshed, more danger!" She interrupted, shocking Dorothea with how...visibly angry she was getting.

"_She was never angry like this back in the academy...what changed?"_ She thought, as a low rumbling confirmed to them that indeed, they were dealing with a battle outside the embassy. I mean, if the screaming of the dead wasn't an already clear indication.

"Um...shouldn't we be dealing with the Kingdom's forces before we deal with any of...whatever this is, Edie? Petra?" Dorothea reasonably pointed out.

"Yes...unfortunately, this does seem to be the case." Edelgard states, staring at Petra, not even eyeing Dorothea this time. "However, I would rather we dispute this case now. It may be the key to…"

She stopped, as her eyes widened. She swore she saw red smoke go in through one of the windows. Did the madman wish to watch her suffer more? All for some...contrived reason? Petra simply gave a confused raised eyebrow, as Dorothea looked at Edelgard.

"...Edie...are you...okay?" She asked, slowly trying to approach her.

Meanwhile…Edelgard was reminded of something. Far back.

—-

(_7 years ago, Enbarr_)

"...uncle?"

"...Edelgard?" _Arundel asked, raising an eyebrow as the young woman entered the room. He was in the middle of writing some letters it seemed. But even then, Edelgard knew better. She had a feeling it was more than that_. "Is there an issue?"

_She noticed Soichi in the same room, muddling around. He was leaned over the wall, a small Fullbottle in his own hand. The Pheonix Fullbottle, if she remembered correctly. Still in that suit and all. He was clearly enjoying whatever discussion the two were having_.

"Yes...the man. From Brigid." _She said_. "...someone helped him escape. We lost the items he had with him as well." _She responded, causing the two men to freeze. And Soichi had quite the amused look to his face. _

_Arundel did not have much of the same look to him, not caring about Soichi's bemused grin at this point_.

"Who was on guard duty?" _He asked her_.

"Two of the mages, uncle. And one of our armored knights."_She replied curtly. _

_Arundel simply gave a low grumble. After some incoherent mumbling, some of the words that Edelgard could hear being 'years for this' and something involving their youngest member, Kronya, he straightened himself and got out of his chair, standing up_.

"...I will personally reprimand them myself." _He curtly notes to the two_. "I will meet them in the courtyard. Stay here for now, Edelgard." _He responded, walking away from her, as Soichi simply looked towards Edelgard_.

"...well, well, Princess of Adrestia."

"Monster." _Edelgard immediately responded, Soichi simply laughing at the response. Much like a madman would_. "You had a hand in this, didn't you?"

_Soichi simply raised his hands up._ "Guilty as charged."

_With it, he held the Build Driver in one hand and both the Dragon and Pheonix Fullbottle in the other_. "Was getting boring with him caught like that. Let the animals like you humans run free and perhaps we can see what becomes of it."

_Based on Soichi's face, he was making it painfully obvious to Edelgard he knew what he was doing, and what the result of it was_.

"Once Arundel gets word of this…"_Edelgard began to say, before Soichi laughed once more_.

"He'll do nothing. Thales needs me, as much as he Dosen't wish to admit it. I gave him everything he needed to know; about the Crests...the Hazard System...everything. The Fullbottles. Even your little secret." _Soichi responded smugly, Edelgard gritting her teeth in response_.

"He will eventually have no use for you." _She barely managed to get out...soon falling into much the same realization about herself_.

"I know. You know. But...

"Know that he will place the blame on you. Letting a dangerous criminal like Banjou Ryuga escape, under yours and the guards watch. He'll reprimand you...and then force you to go after him." _Soichi said sarcastically, as he inspected the Driver. _

_Edelgard stood silent, herself staring at Soichi_.

"What; dog got your colon? Is that what humans say? I seem to have forgotten." _Soichi states, staring towards her. _

_All Edelgard could do was stare at the Dragon Fullbottle. _

_She saw what truly happened that day. The screaming, and the laughing. _

_All she could think of was that person. A person who would most likely be deemed insane. Possibly even put to death if found. Unless he somehow braved through that, no doubt will there be much remaining. But no matter how much she ran from that truth, no matter how much she ran from that memory_...

—

...it always caught up to her. Though this wasn't what she had expected.

She eventually snapped out of it, as she looked towards Petra, her face showing a small sign of dread.

"...Petra, as much as it pains me to say this…" Edelgard states somewhat genuinely, her Crest of Flames flaring up her heart taster and faster. . The combination of memories, the worry that Petra may, or perhaps already had truly turn on her. "I do not want to kill you...but if Banjou Ryuga and you don't give up the Build Driver…"

"...Edelgard, I will not fight you. But as long as the Build Driver is mine and Banjou's...we will not fight this war with it. It will be fought to preserve love and peace, not destroy it in the darkness!" Petra replied, as Dorothea looked...mildly surprised. Especially when Petra threw her sword away. She wasn't going to fight her, it did seem. It was...unexpected. Perhaps she did learn a little from her and Mercedes back at the academy...

"...then I'm…" she would respond, as she looked towards Petra...and then away from her, to her horror, at a certain being staring at her at the end of the hallway. Contrasting colors, a weird shade of pink and turquoise, a similiar Transsteam Gun on his hand, his weird cobra-shapen helmet staring towards her through the darkness, piercing through the black veil. The only place the fires of Oche never illuminated. Her Crest burned faster, Hazard Level rising...and in an instant, she charged straight towards Petra. She knew the consequences of Evolto telling her father that she let Banjou go again. The pain that Thales would potentially bring her as a consequence seemed to muddle her thoughts.

Dorothea, during this whole time, had no idea was going on. While the low rumblings and the choir of the dead indeed rained in her ears outside, it wasn't the case in the embassy. At least, not while it was drowned out by the standoff that was going on around her, tension and all. She knew Edelgard held many secrets, but to see her be this...cold to Petra. And for what? Something that could 'win the war'? She assumed it would probably end quicker…but she knew what that always meant. It would cost something dearly if Edelgard wanted it this badly. It had happened before. Tearing both the Alliance and Kingdom apart with civil wars. Demonic beasts being sent out to the field to terrorize the Church's combined forces. At least, whoever still believed in the church.

On the other hand...she also knew Petra. As much as the Brigidian princess lacked in understanding Fodlan metaphors and sometimes just general sayings...she was passionate. About Brigid, about the tragic death of her father. About the people in the Black Eagles. She trusted Petra with her life; it seemed she grew as a person; understood the world around her mostly. She was willing to give almost everything up. Dorothea had seen her genuinely be willing to fight for Edelgard...even if both her and Petra seemed rather reluctant to turn on their classmates. Especially after poor Dimitri's reaction to Edelgard's alter ego...

However, something that never seemed to change...was their endurance. The drive to change certain things. Both Petra and Edelgard had it, but she had seen it always with Edelgard, never giving up things that she wants to succeed. While the Empress held her secrets, Dorothea had...a small inkling of an idea of what she was hiding most of the time. From the Flame Emperor, to whatever the hell happened to Jeritza.

With Petra, she already knew some things about her passions. Brigid, understanding Fodlan as a whole. But that last one, about this mysterious Banjou Ryuga she had briefly seen in history-related things regarding his appearance at the end of the Brigid-Dagda war?

That was new. And somewhat expected at the same time. She had always mentioned a foreigner in her stories; teaching her about some far away land he called 'Japan'.

But to see Edelgard so crazed by the idea of Petra defending such a man. It seemed...rather unusual, to put it in light words.

She was fearful for both their lives. She trusted both of them with her own. One path would end here. A path that didn't have to end.

Or at least, that's what would've happened, had Dorothea, in what she herself considered a stupid maneuver, intervened in what could've been fate itself. She grabbed the arm Edelgard was using the sword with, using her other arm to push Petra back.

Petra, for her part, was surprised. Edelgard was more so. Still...that didn't stop her sudden and rather strange bloodlust from letting loose. Probably to do with the Crest of Flames and the massive emotional turmoil affecting her combined.

"Let...me...go, Dorothea." Edelgard wanted in some sort of dark undertone, genuinely scaring both the songstress and Brigid heiress. Neither of them had Edelgard this...well, crazy before.

Petra stared at her...almost in astonishment.

"Why do you hate Banjou so much?" She asked, his name only forcing Edelgard further. Her rage however...began to be replaced it seemed. With...desperation? Tears rolled down Edelgard's cheeks as she tried to move through Dorothea.

"Why do you hate me?"

Petra didn't seem to help much with that question as Edelgard dropped the sword, earning Dorothea a small cut to her arm as the blade clattered to the ground.

Edelgard…surprisingly became vulnerable. In that moment, she genuinely...felt. Was this what it was like, this...Hazard Level that she was gifted with? A gift and a curse?

Petra tried to approach her cautiously, as Dorothea carefully let her go.

"I…" Edelgard tried to say, Petra staring at her alongside the songstress for ANY form of reply.

What could she say? That she was part of some underground movement from long ago, wanting the Goddess dead and the Crest system disassembled? That said group was responsible for the death of her beloved teacher's father? And for everything that was going on the past few decades? For the civil war in Faerghus, Lonato's rebellion…

Edelgard would be deemed a lunatic. And a traitor to all her allies, including those closest to her. Hubert would be an exception, but…

She knew her path would be filled with the blood of those she came to be close with. She knew she had to slay those who were allies. Comrades even.

But this wasn't what she wanted. To lose such close allies as this like this. Especially in this manner.

All thanks to that monster behind her. The monster that spoke.

"She hates you because it would disappoint her masters if she failed to obtain what was lost, little MacNeary. Simple as that." The mysterious cobra man stated, casually sauntering out like he didn't send the Adrestian Empress into a literal PTSD moment, and surprised the other two.

"...Stalk?" Petra asked inquisitively, Edelgard's head immediately snapping in Petra's direction a bit too quick.

"...you know him?" She responded, sounding betrayed herself at this point.

"...he gave me the very things you seek." She responded after a brief moment.

The cobra man laughed, Edelgard visibly shaking.

"Who are you then?" Dorothea asked in Petra's place, as she began piecing something together. Where had she learned that name before?

The cobra man laughed once more, as he stared towards the three.

"...call me...Stalk." He responded, as Petra's head finally connected the dots. Connections from before finally pieced together.

"_...call me Stalk." _

"_Hopefully, not someone from Faust...or…_"

"...Blood Stalk." Petra and Edelgard responded at the same time with different emotions; Edelgard with dread, Petra with realization.

The now named Blood Stalk simply laughed. "Oh, you finally guessed it young MacNeary! Took you humans long enough!"

Petra simply looked towards Edelgard in absolute disbelief, only for Edelgard to lower her head in some form of shame.

"You...you…" was all Petra would mutter out, Blood Stalk making it obvious via his next statement.

"She worked for me, young MacNeary. The same way your Ryuga was nearly killed by us." He replied, before pulling his Transsteam Gun up towards Edelgard as Dorothea attempted whatever healing she could, Petra scrambling to wield both her and Edelgard's swords.

"Now...allow me to…"

BANG!

The area shook hard around them like an earthquake. And it was getting closer.

If Blood Stalk would have a face...he would've generally gave a grin, as Petra shakily held up her two swords.

"Why do I hear…"

And then, as Petra charged at Blood Stalk, the wall smashed itself open.

—

(_Earlier…)_

Banjou really hated Evolto for dragging everyone he knew to a damn place like this.

Especially now.

"Mr. Banjou…" Bernadetta pleaded with him as the two slowly made their way through the streets in such a stealthy manner. She genuinely was worried; both for Banjou's unusual quietness, and the obvious smell of dead bodies around them at the current moment. It certainly wasn't a pleasant site like it was not even a day or two ago. The screams didn't help ease the Varley Noble's head.

Banjou in fact, ignored Bernie's pleas and instead looked behind a corner, sticking to the wall, as Bernadetta followed suit. Three Faerghus soldiers. Seemed to be two swordsman and an axeman, wandering around, slaying any Adrestian in their way, civilian or not. It seemed...unnecessarily brutal, especially for such an esteemed army like that. And while he hated the Adrestians for what they did regarding Petra's homeland...this was just too far. Not even Hokuto, or…

Actually, no. He imagined Seito would've done something like this. Especially when Evolto got his hands on the Guardians there..

Of course, there was no reason to think about any of that. There was some saving to do.

Banjou immediately grabbed one of the swordsmen from behind, kneeing him, a loud cracking noise being heard, as he threw him to the side, immediately grabbing the other two Faerghus troops' heads before either of them noticed their downed comrade, slamming their heads together hard; he'd assume it was due to his high Hazard Level still being present that he was able to do this. A hearable crack could be heard as they went down.

Bernadetta, for her part...was absolutely baffled. And terrified, of course.

But, at the end of the day, she breathed in and out, trying to calm herself down, before following Banjou, picking up her bow from earlier, ransacked by some Faerghus soldiers. Banjou himself simply went on without any sort of weaponry; his fists were enough for the time being.

Thankfully, Banjou was pretty damn capable at the moment.

As he walked through the burning streets, he could spot that...emo-looking rat back from the embassy blasting dark magic at any Faerghus being threatening to even get close to the mage. Gentoku, as Night Rogue was obviously with him, blasting away any soldiers with his Transsteam Gun. Archers lined ahead of them, following suite with shooting away at any of the wyvern riders in the skies.

"Ah, well, if it isn't Ms. Varley and Petra's...illustrious guest Banjou." Hubert replied, not even looking at them as he blasted a wyvern Rider off his stead with his Mire spell, the two spiraling down a couple blocks down. "At least you're okay. Have either of you seen her Majesty?"

As much as Hubert enjoyed ensuring that the Empress was safe...he knew how serious Edelgard was when she repeatedly insisted not to interfere; that her and Petra be left alone.

It was serious enough for him to leave her side. It still felt...uneasy to him.

"No...Petra did go with her though." Bernadetta responded. Banjou simply gave an annoyed look. It didn't seem like it was to the Vestra Noble in the slightest.

It didn't help that Hubert gave an annoyed scowl himself. He didn't like to hear that, as he genuinely turned around.

"Hm…"

Even after all this time, at least to Bernadetta...Hubert was creepy. She shivered at his scowl, as he looked towards Banjou.

"...Cross-Z." He simply responded, turning around, which also caused Night Rogue to turn around in surprise.

Banjou immediately shot a hand up, Hubert immediately being choked against his will. It wasn't particularly hard to cut off all the oxygen nor was it enough force to snap his neck like a soda can…but it was certainly enough to freak Bernadetta out. It also forced Night Rogue to grab Banjou's hand.

"Banjou...let the man speak." Night Rogue stayed, attempting to stop Banjou from choking the second in command of the Adrestian Empress right then and there. He tried to pull on his arm. It barely budged.

"Mr Banjou, stop please! Petra wouldn't w-w-want this!" Bernadetta yelled, as a couple of the local militia arrived, lancemen and swordsmen specifically, who noticed the potentially dying noble and rushed to go and save him...only for Hubert to raise a hand. A visual order to not engage the angry Japanese man and the Varley noble. At the mention of Petra, Banjou had to sigh and let him go, as Hubert nearly collapsed on the floor, trying to regain the air he had lost from the encounter.

Banjou simply stared over him as Hubert got up after a brief moment, staring at him.

"...I wouldn't hold that against you." He simply responded, as he kept an eye out to Night Rogue, who was staring at the three.

Bernie on the other hand wished she had shrunk away into oblivion right now with the attention being placed around the group.

"...I'd suspect then that we will have to aid her Majesty. As much as it pains me to say this...you, Mr. Ryuga, may be able to...help us." He responded...about as sincerely as Hubert could get. Which to say, it didn't make Banjou any less suspicious of the situation. And also didn't spur any of Bernie's anxiety about the situation.

"Let me guess; you want me to join your little merry band of murderers just so that you can get rid of some religion?" He asked completely and utterly sarcastically, as he heard the roar of a dragon. A Cross-Z Dragon at that, as it plopped the Build Driver and Dragon Fullbottle onto the man, while Hubert simply gave a neutral look.

"If I were to do that, you'd still be in chains, and on a leash like the dog you are. Maybe possibly executed right then and there. What I'm wishing is for...reconciliation. I'm sure her Majesty is at least trying to convince Petra to potentially hand over your…" Hubert said, pausing to think up a proper word for the driver. "...valuables. I'd imagine she'd fail. Petra always seemed rather passionate about you. I must admit, I'm partially jealous that her Majesty has less so.

"...I'd still ask what do you mean, reconciliation? Because if you want an apology, you'll get none from me, mop-head." Banjou responded, quickly setting up his Build Driver to transform.

_**[Wake Up! Cross-Z Dragon!] **_

Hubert and the group simply stepped out of the way, as Banjou turned the crank on the Build Driver. Cross-Z's armor formed around him. This was, of course, much to the surprise of the many soldiers around them; a few archers ahead even peeled back to take a small look...only for Hubert to give them a glance as they quickly turned their attention back towards the Faerghus wyverns in haste.

"And yet you say I have a flare for the dramatics." Night Rogue mumbled, Bernadetta getting a brief laugh from his joke.

"I heard th…" Banjou began to say, annoyed face and everything as the armor coalesced into him.

_**[Wake Up Burning! Get Cross-Z Dragon! Yeah!]**_

Cross-Z, once he was finished with his catchy tune, turned to Hubert. The Vestra Noble was not impressed in the slightest. In fact, he looked a little disappointed at the armor. His face quickly contorted into that of a small smile.

"As we were saying...you might need this. As much as I regret doing this, I'd imagine that you would more fit the future for her. Her guardian, I suppose." He stated, pulling something out of his pocket that Banjou immediately realized what it was.

Indeed, somehow, he had a Fullbottle the entire time. The Rocket Fullbottle the entire time.

"How the…" Night Rogue immediately tried to ask Hubert, only for him to turn to the bat Rider eerily quickly, that creepy signature smile popping up on his face.

"...I have my ways." He responded, turning back to Banjou. "Nonetheless, as much as I wish to help her Majesty, someone has to still hold the line here. And as much as I trust General Gentoku with his weapon, there is only so much he can do without aid. And her Majesty is quite capable herself of survival. I wouldn't put it past her to not kill Princess MacNeary. She's has too close of a relationship with her to validate such harm. Especially with everyone else breathing down her throat. She'd probably want to be on good terms with the dwindling allies from the Black Eagles that she could, before the other two Kingdoms say otherwise.

Banjou immediately had a feeling that he knew what Hubert was talking about. He also knew that it was an excuse to possibly get away from him.

And he had some idea on what to do.

"_...Baaannnjouuu…"_ The dragon man could hear the mysterious voice state in his mind.

"...Evolto." He mumbled. "What do you want?"

Hubert for his part, looked...radically interested. Evolto was the name, Hm? Perhaps he would be able to relay this to Lady Edelgard.

...they had to have an edge over him somehow.

"_...seems your friend is crazed. Hresvelg's gone crazy. Trying to kill your precious Petra."_ The now named Evolto stared. _"Maybe I shall...intervene."_

He said the last part with such venom, that, with a heavy silence, Banjou backpedaled towards the embassy, Bernie quickly rushing afterwards.

"...you know more than that, don't you, Vestra?" Night Rogue asked, Hubert looking towards him with a smile.

"But of course. However, that Ryuga...his mental state seems fractured. It's similar to her Majesty behind closed doors. I'm sure you've briefly seen it." Hubert responded, once again not even looking as he blasted a classic fireball towards his target, Night Rogue blasting a few shots himself.

The two intently stared at one another as the Faerghus Pegasus Knight flew down and exploded at a somewhat decent distance to the two, then staring quite intently.

They had no idea why they were doing this, to be honest.

"I've seen it. It's similiar." Night Rogue simply responded.

"Then you know why I didn't choose to disclose more." Hubert stated, his brow creasing in response.

—

As Cross-Z ran up to the embassy, he noticed a major problem.

Notably, the dead wyvern that was blocking his path.

Bernadetta ran up, nervous for the man after his...previous experience slamming his head through the floor. She really didn't want to have to worry about Banjou slamming through anything else, and then having to worry about healing him again. At the end of the day, she wasn't a healer.

Nor was she exactly the most emotionally supportive. In fact, she was quite the opposite, if it wasn't apparent enough already.

"Evolto...where are you?" Cross-Z asked the air in quite a very aggressive, and dangerous matter, as if he would shatter the very ground they stood upon at that instant. It reminded her too much of when the roars of Demonic Beasts could be hea…

BANG!

Banjou slammed himself into the wall, as Bernadetta could see a dent in the wall, probably from Cross-Z's impact. He pulled out his Beat Crosser sword, placing the Rocket Fullbottle into the sword.

[_**Rocket! Special Tune!]**_

As Cross-Z was preparing to indeed break the wall down with a sword and his own body, Bernie could see through the window in a reflection from one of the mirrors in the room. And all she saw was a downtrodden Edelgard, hand clenched to where her crest would be. Dorothea was in front of her, seemingly attempting to calm down the Empress. And then there was Petra herself, wielding two steel swords, speaking with some figure off in the distance, off what she could see in the mirror.

It wasn't a really good situation. And it was matter on whether or not Cross-Z's plan was going to make it worse or not.

He apparently pulled on his Beat Crosser twice, just for a certain effect.

"Haven't tried this...let's hope it works." Banjou whispered to himself, as he activated the sword's finisher, the back of the sword proceeded to activate, it sending him flying through the wall.

_**[Million Slash!]**_

The wall in which Banjou broke through left a hole, though thankfully the building didn't come apart.

Still...she heard fighting break out.

And she needed to help.

So Bernie did, quickly attempting to slowly make her way through the hole.

—

As the smoke cleared, the sound of sword slashes and gunshots could be heard, as the Adrestian women (plus Petra) were blinded by the incoming smoke.

The Brigidian princess braved through the smoke with her twin swords, her eyes widening as she could sense Bernadetta's presence to her left.

...she realized that it was new.

"Could this have been...my Hazard Level raising?" She asked herself, as she saw Banjou as Cross-Z attempting to attack Blood Stalk. Said Blood Stalk was proceeding to evade those slashes and attempting to shoot him with some weird device. It seemed to lead to Cross-Z's armor sparking, but he just kept going. In rage. In anger.

This wasn't like him at all. Something personal must've happened to cause him to be...this way. Maybe it had to do with his fate after the Brigid-Dagda War…

But she would not allow those thoughts to muddle her thoughts. She needed to save Banjou. It was the very least she could do to repay him.

"Ah, Banjou Ryuga! We finally meet in the flesh once again!" Blood Stalk states, weaving out of a potential slash from the Beat Crosser. "How's the age? Not growing too rusty, aren't you?"

"Just shut up and die, Evolto!" Cross-Z shouted, activating a second finisher for the Best Crosser.

_**[Hippare! Smash Slash!]**_

Considering that the Rocket Fullbottle was indeed in said sword, the sword turned itself into a Rocket...somehow. Edelgard was the only one to realize what it indeed was as she looked up towards the fight. Petra and Banjou seemed uncoordinated, both filled with pure rage. It was bad. And Blood Stalk knew it, taking full advantage of their uncontrolled swings and attacking them when they can.

She knew it was bad. Especially if that monster had plans for Petra…

It wasn't looking very good. Not at all.

She pulled out the Fullbottle from before, hidden within one of the hidden pockets in her inner dress, as she looked longingly at it. She looked as Petra and Banjou were being punched back by Blood Stalk easily, despite the weapon and number advantage.

She had seen Stalk's true power.

She knew that she needed to intervene.

Twisting the cap to the cracked Fullbottle, her Crest of Flames sparked, causing her to clutch her heart as she nearly collapsed on the ground.

"I…must...do this…" she barely got out to herself, as Dorothea rushed to her side, Edelgard looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Save...them. I...will be fine." She croaked out, Dorothea looking terrified and worried sick about Edelgard's condition. Edelgard's hard stare towards them said otherwise.

After a brief moment of thought, by which it was wasting time seeing as Petra was slammed hard against the ground, skidding to near where Dorothea was, the songstress fired a lightning spell in Blood Stalk's direction just as an arrow attempting to pierce the being's skull. Both missed, as Stalk stared right back at them.

"You think yourselves clever, huh?"

Edelgard could only watch as he pulled out a familiar Fullbottle, kicking Cross-Z back before inserting it into his own Transsteam Gun.

_**[Phoenix!]**_

He aimed the weapon towards Dorothea, as Bernadetta nocked another arrow to try and stop it. Petra got up, stumbling towards Dorothea as she raised her swords up in some...measly defense.

"Hm...congratulations, young MacNeary. You survived longer than the great Banjou Ryuga." He responded as he shook his head, as she stared shocked, at a Cross-Z, smoke pouring out his armor as he tried to get up.

"...now let's see that Hazard Level rise." He stated, quickly reaiming his gun at the downed Cross-Z, pulling the trigger on his Transsteam Gun.

_**[Steam Shot! Pheonix!]**_

A fiery Pheonix-like entity shot out from the gun,landing right where the dragon Rider was. More smoke was thrown up in the air briefly blinding them all. When the smoke cleared, the area where Cross-Z formerly stood...now remained a demorphed Banjou. A Banjou...which clearly wasn't getting up from the fight. The Build Driver laid scorched, threatening to tear itself in half. The Dragon Fullbottle, relatively unharmed. The Cross-Z Dragon flew very raggedly its way to Petra, dangerously close to collapsing itself.

Silence reigned across the halls of the embassy. Edelgard was in pure shock. As was Dorothea. Bernadetta nearly broke down in tears. But Petra?

All that build up anger from 10 years had finally been released.

And Petra went all in.

In a fit of absolute terrifying rage, she lunges at Blood Stalk, slashing him with both her swords. And Blood Stalk was relishing in it. Not only that, but Dorothea contributed, launching a mixture of Thoron and Thunder at Blood Stalk. Weak spells, but ones that at the very least, at least Dorothea thought, would be able to help.

Bernadetta on the other hand attempted to drag Banjou's lying body across the room towards Edelgard, as Edelgard stayed in that shocked look.

...he just killed him. He just killed someone that suffered so much. And yet…

"He's alive!" Bernadetta shouted with genuine tears of joy.

"_...how?"_

That was the burning question stuck in Edelgard's head. But there was another point to answer to.

Petra.

She looked back to the Fullbottle in her hand. She knew she was much more weakened thanks to that damn crest stuck. In her body. But she needed to pull through with it.

She needed to prove to Petra that she had her back.

Edelgard grabbed the Sclash Driver hidden away in a nearby cupboard, as she weakly slammed it on her personnel.

_**[Sclash Driver!] **_

She held the cracked Fullbottle in hand, slamming her hand on the top of it.

_**[Danger…]**_

Her vision was getting blurry, seeing Petra so desperately fend off against the threat of Blood Stalk. Her crest threatened to literally burst her heart into flames. Visible sweat moved down Edelgard's face.

She couldn't do it. She saw Petra get pushed back, as Adrestian soldiers broke the door open behind Blood Stalk, as Petra was thrown back, unconscious herself from over exhaustion. She couldn't hear that well either...that didn't mean that she could pick up. She felt purple cracks in her skin coming out of heart...the Crest of Flames mixed with the Nebula Gas inside of her…

She heard Stalk say something along the lines of "3.4 already" and of Bernadetta tending to a unconcious Petra, blood running down her mouth and multiple bruises rubbing across her body. The once regal Brigidian princess might as well have died right then and there.

It would've made it easier for Edelgard and her emotions.

She then heard one thing clearly from Blood Stalk. And it made her wish this was all a Dream.

"Kill them all; they've attempted to assassinate the Adrestian Empress for the Kingdom." Blood Stalk stated, the soldiers moving closer to the scared Dorothea and Bernadetta. An archer and a songstress/mage couldn't handle this many. And Blood Stalk knew that. In fact, he knew it so much, he was staring directly at the Empress. If he hadn't had his mask on, Edelgard swore that he would have a smug grin on his face. He wanted this.

He wanted the idea of treating humanity...this humanity like some sort of game.

And to her, as she realized...this was the opening act.

She soon couldn't hear anything either. But something on the roof seemed to give as it collapsed. She briefly saw a sword of thunder being wielded by a cloaked figure, a wyvern landing behind her body. Two other cloaked figures, one with a bow, the other being some kind of...winged hawk fired off shots, sending the Adrestians into full retreat. Blood Stalk was nowhere to be found,

As the world drifted into unconciousness, she saw Dorothea and Bernadetta, alongside the bodies of Petra and Banjou being carried off by said wyvern.

To her...it would be the last time seeing her friends for a long while.

—

…

…

_Darkness. _

_That was all that was present in the enveloping void Petra found herself in. _

_She was floating in it. She briefly remembered this from when she was young. The domain of the Wind Spirit. She would be eventually invited into his domain. _

_She remembered fighting Blood Stalk. Her body was getting weak. Then she earned a vicious kick that sent her stumbling into where she was now. _

_Was she alive? Dead even? _

_...at this point, not even Petra knew. _

"_...you shouldn't be here." She could hear a little girl's voice echo within the endless dark abyss._

"_Who even is that?" Petra would think. A bearable yawn could be heard afterwards from the girl._

"_Strange. It seems as if time itself has decided to change. Maybe for better. Maybe for worst. And for once, I do not seem to have been the sole cause of it. You seem to be important." _

"_That voice…" Petra asked, looking around the void. _

_And very briefly, she saw a young girl in her face. Green hair locked in a weird sort of braid and pretty much everywhere. A throne sat behind her at a distance, a faint person there. Male by the looks of it. Sleeping. _

"_...it's time for you to wake up it seems." The Young girl said, floating towards Petra up to her face, as before Petra could actually do anything else, her world was filled with light_.

—-

Petra's eyes slowly opened, as she was greeted with clouds, the sun ever so often peeking on them. The tree that she was somehow laying on was giving her shade.

"_Was this all a dream? Who was that girl? Where is everybody_?" We're just some of the thoughts racing through Petra's mind as she looked around. A cliff, overlooking just forest for the eyes could see. She could distinctly see mountains in the distance. Suggesting they were somewhere in the wilderness.

Petra then took a look at herself. The same outfit she wore originally when she returned from Brigid smelling roughly of jasmine.

It was oddly nostalgic. But why was she here?

She heard rustling from the bushes and tried to reach out for a sword...only to realize none were on her personnel. She raised her fists, as a slightly older woman stepped out. Teal short coat, with some type of black undergarment. Black leather pants. Purple short hair.

Petra recognized this person from the academy days.

"...Shamir?" She asked in confusion.

"Princess Petra. You're awake." She stated in her usual neutral tone. "Someone wants to see you."

Petra admittedly has no other choice. As much as she could survive in the wilderness much like her homeland...here was Shamir, a Knight of Seiros...somehow surviving everything that went on for five years. Maybe she could be lead to her allies.

To the answers she desperately needed.

"You're welcome for the scenic view. Don't do that for many people." Shamir curtly stated, the two walking through the forest. "...what you did certainly deserved at least that from me."

"What..did I do?" Petra asked, genuinely confused.

"You made me realize what he cared about. I can respect that." Shamir told her quite bluntly, before staying silent and continuing on her trek.

She had a feeling the mercenary was talking about Banjou...but how did Shamir know him? In fact, how did he get that other Fullbottle? She didn't remember anything regarding whatever new thing he had. And not only that, considering her more cold attitude towards her fellow knights…

Why was she specifically treating her with a little more casualness? Like they were old friends.

As much as she could potentially think about anything else, she felt...tired. Or at least drowsy. Perhaps the effect of the little girl in her dreams went on to reality itself.

The two arrived in some sort of camp, noticeable as it was a giant tent of some sort, with a few minor tents around. Knights of Seiros, or at least whatever few remained were most likely out on scouting duty or in the camp itself, relaxing and eating. Bernadetta in particular seemed alright. She recognized one of the leaders...Alois, she assumed the name was, speaking with Bernie, the two eating chunks of cooked deer. They both seemed to be laughing.

This caused a smile to be on Petra's face. Albeit a small one, considering her drowsy state. She then spotted Dorothea near the main big tent, as she paced back and forth. Not in a state of worry, but rather thought. She was humming a tune, possibly to get her thoughts together.

The opera singer was interrupted when she looked up, widening her eyes as she quickly squeezed a hug towards Petra, as Shamir looked on with a simple raised eyebrow. The slightest hint of a smirk came on her face, but no one would notice it or dare point it out.

"Petra...you're okay. Thank goodness." Dorothea whispered, slightly sighing. "Your other friend...he still hasn't woken up. Heart pumping and everything, so he's alive. They're going to take him to Derdriu. They think they can convince Marianne and Manuela in secret to help accelerate the man's healing."

"The Alliance Capital?" Petra asked out of pure interest. She remembered Marianne. The blue-haired woman who always looked sad all the time. And very often was a woman of few words. It was rather...unusual at first, like most things in Fodlan for Petra.

It was just a matter of getting used to.

Shamir simply stated nothing as she looked at a couple tents down.

"Don't worry; he'll be safe." Shamir attempted to give some form of reassurance, as Dorothea nodded in approval.

"As much as Manuela is a singer, she's a physician and nurse. Her and Marianne might be able to do it...as long as she isn't drunk." Dorothea agreed upon, before she heard the Cross-Z Dragon.

It looked somehow fully fixed, as it zipped on by towards Petra, screeching.

She simply laughed, as the dragon zipped around, evenutally landing on her shoulder. Shamir simply walked over to where the dragon came from, a hooded figure peeking out of the tent to see where the dragon went.

"Guessing someone wants to speak to you?" Dorothea asked, Petra simply smiling and giving a small nod.

She swore that as the heiress walked away, Dorothea gave a genuine wink at her.

Shamir was seen mumbling and whispering towards the hooded man, before he let the two of them in. Inside, Petra was surprised to say the least. Various different tools, both recognizable and as foreign as an Almyran laid across a table. The Build Driver sat there, a visible metallic scar burned through its front. It looked like it still worked but...it was clear it wasn't as pretty as before.

As the man took off the hood and began briefly speaking to Shamir, probably to notify them to close off the tent to the three of them and the like, Petra widened her eyes at the realization on who this was based off the clips she watched off Cross-Z's device. Not to mention the brief line mentioned from Banjou's notes.

_Search for Sento Kiryu._

"...Sento Kiryu?" Petra asked in a small amount of curiosity, as the man and Shamir both widened their eyes, turning to Petra for a brief moment. Shamir eventually gave a motion, and as a last person, who she remembered as being the ever feared Catherine entered the tent, the man turned to Petra, as the Cross-Z Dragon leaped onto the table.

"You know who I am?" He asked in a small amount of confusion.

The Cross-Z Dragon roared, attracting Sento's attention. The screen showed the same thing Petra had seen the same time from the first time it showed her it. It was mirrored, so she obviously wouldn't had been able to see what it said. Whatever it said however, mixed with the Cross-Z Dragon's screaming, caused Sento to have widened eyes, concerning the other two women in the room.

Sento quickly calmed down though, before turning to Petra.

"Petra MacNeary, we need to talk."


	8. Under Everlasting Skies

**AN: So...yeah. Getting back into the groove of things. Thankfully, things should be smooth sailing for a little bit in terms of what I want to do regarding this story. Lots of things to really wrap my head around. The like. Might be a bit more...fun thankfully. Setup is always the most hardest part before you go full on into the story. Now, of course, I've actually had a plan for what's gonna happen, so don't worry about me throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks. **

**As for comments…**

**Dracus6: Ah. If only it was ever that simple. At the end of the day, it is Fire Emblem we're crossing over here. Three Houses especially.**

**Also, I'm officially gonna warn you up front about this, if it isn't blatantly obvious already; this will be an AU. I've also updated it back on Chapter 1 as well, as it'll most likely be some sort of directory. About warnings, chapters for arcs once we get to that, the like. Updates as well in general, just because.**

**Anyways, beyond that I really have nothing else to say right now. Enjoy. And as always, if you have any critiques, or you want to do anything like that, please, go ahead and say it. At the end of the day, improvement is always important! **

**So, without further ado...shall we begin the experiment?**

—

Two brown eyes, locked at one another. Unwavering. Under some form of pressure. Their irises, ever continuing to stare into the abyss of the others.

While Catherine fidgeted with herself, having some type of itch for something, and while Sha mir stood off to the side, being about as neutral-looking as you would expect off someone like her, Petra and Sento stared at each other in uncomfortable silence for what felt like forever.

Perhaps they were thinking about what to ask the other. Perhaps it was needing to be silent in the moment. Maybe it was for the currently comatose Banjou somewhere around the small temporary camp the surviving Knights of Seiros set up. At least for those that didn't return to their homelands, or died in the defense of Garreg Mach.

No matter the case, it seemed the only people who would know in the room would stay silent on the matter. Or at least, that was the case.

Clapping his hands together casually, Sento Kiryu simply smiled.

"So, Petra MacNeary...according to the Cross-Z Dragon, you are apparently the second coming of Banjou Ryuga." He stated. In either absolute joy or sheer terror; even now, Petra couldn't tell what some people's emotions were like. This coming from the same one who recognized Shamir's unexpected courtesy towards Petra unlike anyone else she interacted with. At least that wasn't from the Church.

"That I am. He had helped me before. Helped me with training and my fighting ability." Petra responded quite bluntly, clearly being pretty general. She had seen these types of interviews before back during her days in Brigid; trying to pry for information. She had an idea on where this was going.

It was too bad Sento didn't, as he pondered himself about Petra's answer, walking around.

"Well...in that case, I'd guess he's taught you much about our world. Or maybe just about fighting. Just about what muscle-head does usually." Sento states, muttering the last part out loud.

It looked like he didn't realize he was doing so, as he paced around the room, mumbling to himself. Petra cocked her head in confusion, tilting it just a little as Catherine's fidgeting turned into her gripping on her famed unique sword quite tightly, attracting the attention of Shamir, as she placed a hand on Sento's shoulder. It was able to snap the man out of his thoughts as he turned to Shamir.

"Going to get her out to kill something before she snaps." Shamir simply whispered to Sento, as he gave a brief glance to Catherine's not so subtle actions, before nodding, as the archer escorted the white armored knight out before she did anything...deadly.

Once the two knights were out of his hair, Sento turned back to Petra.

"That he did. Briefly." She stated, before Petra stared towards where the two Knights had come from.

Sento noticed that at least.

"That Catherine...she's been real worried about the fate of the Archbishop for years. Surprised she hadn't moved on." He stated quite plainly...clearly hiding more that what he had said.

Petra didn't push, instead looking towards him.

"Banjou has said to search for you. I do not know why." She replied, Sento quickly walking towards her.

"Would you mind then if I run a few quick tests on you. Don't worry; it's nothing too intrusive. Promise." He said, Petra staring at him for a bit more time. She was thinking.

Eventually, she just shrugged, deciding to let Sento go ahead and do whatever.

He fiddled with the dormant Cross-Z Dragon for a bit, using some foreign tools she hadn't seen before. She assumed it was one of those 'Japanese' things from where Banjou and Sento came from.

And probably where the one they called Gentoku back in Oche came from, now that she thought about it…

Anyways, he eventually finished up with the device as it floated and began scanning Petra. Obviously she didn't know that, immediately raising her fists in defense, much to Sento's amusement, as he let out a short chuckle.

"What is this magic?" Petra asked, still confused by it.

""Not Magic. Science." Sento replied with a smile, simply walking over to her, as the Cross-Z Dragon flew back to him, the screen from before showing up.

Petra simply looked confused, Sento motioning with a finger to come look at the screen.

She noticed it was the same much as before...with one major difference.

_Hazard Level: 3.47_

"It was 3.1 before. Whatever happened when we rescued you, it must've boosted your Hazard Level higher than we thought." Sento replied, probably beginning to ramble to himself again. Sento seemed to add some more notes to the set, underneath the warning about Hazard Level 5.

_Added Notes (Sento Kiryu: 27th of Verdant Rain Moon, 1185) - Unexpected increase in Hazard Level. Petra redirected to be primary user of Cross-Z and all abilities until the reawakening of Banjou Ryuga in Deidriu. Former Adrestian generals Dorothea Arnault and Bernadetta von Varley confirm presence of Evolto and Gentoku in Adrestia. Will have to look into repair of the Magna Knuckle and Genius Fullbottle before Black Hole form regained. Also need to quickly notify Leicester Alliance of imminent attack based on scout data. May need more time. _

There were clearly more notes underneath but they seemed to be blocked out, almost as if Sento didn't want anyone but him to know.

It bothered Petra. Especially if that information was important to their success. But…

"_Evolto?"_

Didn't he call himself Blood Stalk?

"_Are they the same thing? Blood Stalk and Evolto? Why are they here?" _She thought as she stared at the screen.

Said thoughts eventually drifted toward her rapid increase in Hazard Level, as she briefly could sense Bernadetta back in Oche. Although how was completely unknown to her. Not to mention the rest of the unusual names in what she could see; whether that'd be the notes regarding some Genius Fullbottle or Magma Knuckle. Whatever those were.

Sento didn't notice her direct concern, too busy mulling over something, as he pulled out a few Fullbottles.

And for a brief moment, time seemed to slow to a near-halt to Sento. Stuck in his mindscape it seemed.

"_...the girl." _ A voice stated behind him, as Sento turned around. Past the table where Petra was staring at the notes being slowed down in time, was a man that almost looked directly like Sento himself. With the major difference being that he was in some type of Earth lab uniform, very unlike that of the current setting they were currently in. The only other major difference between the two were their faces; they seemed slightly different from one another. "_As much as Banjou Ryuga trusts her, I fear we may be dragging more people into this conflict." _

"Takumi Katsuragi." Sento stated, recognizing his previous self. The Devil Scientist, so they say. "Banjou wasn't directly wrong in this. He has a hard head, but he knew the good in people."

"_He was fooled by many. I am not saying the heir apparent to the Brigidian throne is the worst idea for a Rider, but these are people much younger than us at this point. I don't think we should risk it to young adults…"_

"Have you forgotten there's a war going on? People are dying, and you want us to simply...do nothing?" Sento interrupted the other guy inside his head, as he continued.

"_I never said do nothing. But even you tended to disagree with Rhea regarding sending children to war. I don't think even her most devout followers would believe in that…" _Takumi began to state, before remembering indeed who they were talking about.

"I want to preserve love and peace…" Sento weakly told himself.

"_Not everything can be done so easily. Love and peace are loose terms; especially here. They all have different beliefs; different possibilities. There is an unfortunate chance that if you pursue this...insane cause, it'll lead to disaster. Many will die. Some will live. But many will perish. More will be scarred. Not everything can be kept in rainbows, Sento Kiryu. We know that firsthand." _Takumi replied, as he disappeared, time seemingly resuming for Sento as he stood over three different Fullbottles just...sitting there.

Petra eventually finally peeled her eyes away from the screen, staring towards Sento as he began packing things up silently.

"...Sento?" She asked in confusion, as he looked towards Petra, the three Fullbottles he was to give to the heiress in his hands.

Lock. Hedgehog. And a Rocket Fullbottle. The same one she briefly heard Banjou using as Cross-Z.

"Petra, I'm sorry I have to cut this short, but I admittedly have to leave. The Alliance mentioned that they needed my expertise in something. I'll have to leave you with Shamir and Catherine." Sento said in a bit of a hurry.

"Couldn't we come with you to Deidriu?" Petra asked worryingly, clearly fearful of possibly being caught by Imperial patrols. Or worse, the one they called Blood Stalk. Sento stopped for a moment, the faintest hint of a smile crossing his face.

"As much as it would, in the case the Empire does find us, I would rather not lose all the Knights of Seiros at once. That way, we split up; Shamir and Catherine will lead you guys on foot through the Oghma Mountains; hopefully, you'll reach Count Gloucester territory. Myself and Alois, alongside the other Knights will take the wyverns and hopefully be able to reach Deidriu faster. That way we could heal Banjou and send reinforcements your way if need be from the Alliance." Sento states, almost...regretfully. It seemed he hated speaking in more militaristic terms. Based on what Petra had seen so far from Sento's logs, all 2 of them...it became pretty clear that there was a reason behind it.

Just another mystery upon the growing pile that was Sento Kiryu and friends.

Although, with Sento's stare, Petra simply gave a nod.

"Would I be able to at least ask you a question before you leave?" Petra asked, causing Sento to quickly turn around, nearly dropping the Fullbottles onto the ground.

"Of course." He bluntly responded.

"What do you mean by...love and peace?" She asked, remembering the last plea of help he gave in the logs.

"_To protect the future...in the name of love and peace!"_

Sento looked...almost happy in that statement. His eyes darted around the room, almost looking for some type of answer to appear in thin air. Although the scientist could also see Takumi in the corner of his eye, watching him. It seemed he too was waiting for an answer.

"What I mean is…" Sento began before nearly choking, as a brief memory came up.

_Rogue's cold body hitting the ground, disappearing into nothing. Grease, much the same, his Rider form disappearing. And what they thought was Banjou's sacrifice to stop him…_

"...love and peace. A future in which we can be able to rest, knowing that our descendants will live the life they want. Free of anything that could harm them. But everyone always has a different interpretation of that." Sento summarized, before placing the Fullbottles down for Petra, walking out of the tent to get fresh air.

For her part, Petra simply stood alone in the tent in deep thought. And though she or any others couldn't see him, Takumi Katsuragi was thinking much the same thing.

—

As Sento walked out of the tent, he watched as Catherine and Shamir were arguing in the background. About what, he couldn't tell. He didn't want to know; the two had a...rough history it seemed like. Especially once Garreg Mach fell.

The screams were something that even he couldn't stop…

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite rabbit-man!"

And that was one of the only optimistic things about the whole thing. Other than reuniting with Banjou and finding out about a second Cross-Z, it seemed even a man Iike Alois somehow stayed optimistic.

Sento wondered how a man like him ended up in such a high position in the Knights. He mentioned someone named Jeralt; a mercenary, he had heard, but he didn't exactly remember much else about him. Other than his death. And that of his son.

"_Whatever happened to him?" _Sento thought briefly, as he drowned out whatever Alois had been saying, his thoughts immediately drifting to that of one of the only teachers he ever interacted with back at the Academy.

The mystery of Byleth.

It intrigued him enough to have looked into some basic details about him. Emotionless. Good with swords. Especially once he got his hands on that mysterious Sword of the Creator…

His brief thoughts were quickly interrupted when indeed, Alois slapped him in the back with a hearty laugh, nearly scaring the man with how hard it was, jumping a little forward.

"So, Sento! Are we ready to go? Launch our little operation?" He asked with that same smile he always had on his face.

Sento simply gave a nod, as Alois began to rally the troops up. "We leave by dawn, Alois. All of us."

Alois silently nodded to Sento as the Knight continued barking orders to the other Knights.

Sento himself simply noticed Bernadetta and Dorothea nearby, talking to one another.

"_The two with Petra...they seem like a cheery bunch. Or, rather formally." _Sento thought to himself, as he leaned on a nearby tree. Watching the two. He noticed out of the corner of his eye as Shamir entered the tent where Petra was, as he watched the two ex-Adrestian 'generals' simply giving some silent talk.

It was a nice break from what happened in Oche.

—

As Petra silently stayed standing in thought, her thoughts drifted to the dream from before.

_"You seem important…"_

"Important?" Petra muttered to herself in confusion.

"How important am I?" She said quietly, thinking to herself those thoughts.

She also noticed the Fullbottles, too busy inspecting the Lock Fullbottle to notice Shamir silently entering the tent.

"Very important, Princess MacNeary." Shamir replied, causing Petra to jump and raise her fists, Lock Fullbottle in one hand, as she sent a pretty fast kick straight towards the ex-mercenary, as Shamir turned to the side with an eyebrow raised.

Shamir herself did look a little impressed though.

"It seems the speed that your classmates mentioned seems to still hold." She replied, as Petra quickly lowered her leg in a little hint of embarrassment.

"I am sorry for the actions, Lady Shamir! I didn't…" Petra began to apologize before Shamir stopped her with a simple raise of the hand as she leaned a little down to Petra.

"It's fine. Your instinct as a huntress allowed you to detect me. Not many tend to do that. It'll be important in battle." She told her in a simple way. "Especially in close combat."

Petra and Shamir simply stood in silence for a little, with Petra recognizing something within Shamir.

"...you are a Dagdan, aren't you?" She stated, as Shamir simply sighed. It seemed she finally recognized it.

"The more pale-ish skin...the purple, dark hair." Petra pointed out, a genuine small sad smile coming out of Shamir.

"That life has been behind me for years but...yes. Formally Dagda." Shamir stated, as Petra looked with a small amount of wonder in her eyes.

Their ally in war. Supposedly wiped out. A survivor, among their ranks, caring for their own ally.

"That is why you were more open with me, then?" Petra asked, Shamir silently nodding a yes in response.

The two stayed silent for a little bit. Talking about a past either one of them didn't really want to bring our lead to such an awkward topic. Enough for the two to have no idea what to talk about.

Shamir certainly didn't want to make things uncomfortable for the two. After all, the two happened to be the only ones there. And who knew who could've been eavesdropping on the situation.

Might as well, as Sento seemed to state at one point or another 'spill the beans'.

Whatever that meant.

"Before you continue...whilst I have no ill will against the current Empress…" she started, looking Petra dead in the eyes. Although neither showed their actual emotion up on their face, it was pretty obvious that Shamir was a little regretful just giving this information to Petra.

To Petra, she didn't want to remember whatever was happening back then.

And the brief look of shock she saw in Edelgard's face among those who witnessed Blood Stalk knocking Banjou into some comatose state.

"...that dosen't mean I won't give mercy to her. Not after what happened regarding you. Do not worry; word has spread about what occurred back there." Shamir replied, hands on Petra's shoulders.

"Whilst I left my life behind at Dagda, that doesn't mean I don't have to worry about someone who's father and protector I can respect. People who I saw personally. Met them." She replied, before getting up, grabbing the bow slung around her back.

"Now, while we're here, I'd say you'd probably need a little catching up to do with the others you came with. Arnault and Varley."

Petra simply stared at the three Fullbottles given to her by Sento, as she walked with Shamir out the tent.

Immediately, she was ambushed with hugs from both Dorothea and Bernadetta. It seemed they were waiting for that for quite a while.

It was a silent hug. No words were spoken to one another...but it was clear what they were feeling.

"_Hope." _Shamir summed up in her mind as she watched the three from the distance, Sento watching from the same tree he leaned on before.

Takumi Katsuragi, the spirit that he was, stood next to him, watching them for a little bit. He looked...rather concerned.

"...what?" Sento asked him in a low voice, giving a quick glance towards Takumi.

He simply raised an eyebrow. Something to be discussed later, he supposed. Or rather he was thinking about Petra's role in all of this.

He didn't know. And that bothered Sento just a little bit. Takumi usually would be the guy to often offer his take on things. Him being quiet was unnerving to Sento at the very least.

Especially amid the current situation.

As he broke attention away from the spirit inside the ex-mad scientist's head, the three ex-Adrestian women broke their hug, the three smiling at one another.

"That...felt nice." Bernadetta weakly responded, for which Dorothea chuckled.

"What was going on in there? With the two back from the academy and that hooded man?" She asked, looking questioningly towards Petra.

"It seems as if we are officially defectors from the Empire. We will follow Shamir and Catherine towards the Alliance." Petra summed up quite nicely. Dorothea nodded in worrying approval, most likely worried about Edelgard and what she might be going through. As for Bernadetta…

...well, she took the news about as expected as many would think.

"Wait...we're being hunted by the Empire?!" She screamed, attracting a few Knights. Sento had to stifle a chuckle, as Shamir stalked on, clearly expecting something like this out of the Varley Noble.

"W-what if we're caught by Edelgard! Are we going to be arrested?! Executed? Wh…" Bernie began to have a near-anxiety attack before Petra and Dorothea placed one of their hands each on her shoulder, sympathetic faces on both of their faces.

Bernie's anxiety began to falter before the two continued to stare at her.

"W-what?" She asked, clearly being creeped out by the two's blank stare.

Then Dorothea pulled up something from her other hand. Some type of chocolate it seemed, probably from one of the Knights.

Bernadetta immediately took notice of it, grabbing it quickly before munching on it.

"There; calm." Dorothea replied bluntly, giving a small smile to Petra as the Brigidian heiress chuckled.

"How were you able to…"

"It's a long story. Maybe I can explain it later; I'm feeling tired." Dorothea responded with a chuckle herself, walking away to rest.

Petra was clearly still confused on some things, to say the least.

—

_(Enbarr, around the same time)_

Pacing around the room, Hubert clearly looked somewhat worried. Being outside of the Empress's personal chambers in the hallway certainly wasn't very...fitting to his degree. But Edelgard wished to be alone.

The last time that happened, three of her former allies tried to kill her.

Or so the soldiers in Oche claimed.

As Gentoku made his presence known by walking towards Hubert, the two gave each other a brief stare.

"So...seemed Macneary and the others had some sort of vendetta against the Empress." Gentoku stated, Hubert simply giving a nod. "Enough to try to kill their own superior."

"Or so they claim. It doesn't add up quite right." Hubert responded with, placing a hand on his chiseled chin, rubbing it in thought.

"You don't think they did so?" Gentoku asked, raising his eyebrow out of interest.

"No...things don't seem to add up. The soldiers seem to have a lack of information beyond what happened. Not to mention they'd seem quite...passionate about siding with Edelgard before. Garreg Mach being the perfect example. Something must've happened..." Hubert started, Gentoku widening his eyes as he himself pieced the pieces together.

"So we go straight to the source."

Hubert simply nodded, confirming what Gentoku states, as he looked back towards the door. "It seems most fitting that if anyone knew the truth, it would be her Majesty...let us hope she has answers, should she decide to give them."

—-

(_In her chamber…)_

Edelgard clearly was upset. Light barely went through the window from the gleaming moonlight outside.

The Empress knew something was wrong. Waking up like this, her Hero's Relic Aymr back at her side.

And a regretful mind threatening to burst out into tears.

Unfortunately, those thoughts would be interrupted.

"Yo, your Majesty." Blood Stalk responded casually, waiting near one of the windows, humming what seemed to be some type of tune. "Seems like I saved you from an assassination attempt."

Edelgard simply grabbed a dagger hidden in her dress as she tried to lunge towards Blood Stalk.

Only for him to grab Edelgard's arm rather quickly.

"You...monster! Why must you make the path I walk on so much harder!"" She shouted, Blood Stalk not even turning to Edelgard.

"I have plans. Macneary is someone I'm interested in. Her Hazard Level's rising up quite quickly. About as fast as yours." Blood Stalk states, much to Edelgard's continued anger towards the armored being. Although she couldn't help but feel a little shocked.

"What?" She simply asked, the dagger from before threatening Stalk's throat.

"Hm...seems even the grand Empress of the Adrestian Empire herself seems to forget current events. He hasn't told you? Maybe he's no longer holding as much trust as before…" Stalk said rather amusingly, only causing Edelgard to only keep the dagger to her throat.

"Then speak it before I hang you from the gates of Enbarr myself!" She shouted, not knowing that she echoed a certain someone years before…

Blood Stalk continued to be somewhat amused by Edelgard's rage. It reminded him of someone's similar rage not too long ago. She briefly grabbed her shoulder, Quincy letting go once she attempted to slash Blood Stalk's arm. Despite the sparks from the impact, Stalk didn't seem fazed.

"Hmm...Hazard Level 4.7. Seems he was right in giving you two Crests." Blood Stalk started, before staring at the dagger aimed at his throat. "Clearly, you seem to have done better than that insane coot Di…"

"Don't you dare mention that name in my face, Evolto. Not after what you did to the people I called my allies. My friends." Edelgard replied, for which Blood Stalk simply stayed silent.

Then, it devolved into a chuckle. Then a full blown laugh. His signature laugh at that. To any normal person, it could've just been an insane laugh.

To Edelgard and few others, it was much more than that.

She needed a distraction. Anything…

A knock.

When she turned back to where Blood Stalk was, all she saw was dissipating red smoke. She breathed a sigh of a relief she didn't even know that she held.

"Come in." She commanded, hiding the dagger once more away as Hubert and Gentoku entered the room.

"Your Majesty, have you been feeling better since the assault on Oche?" Hubert asked her out of genuine concern, as Edelgard immediately got a flashback.

_An unconscious Petra. A nearly dead Banjou. Dorothea and Bernadetta scared for their lives as her own soldiers marched towards them, aiming their weapons to kill. _

_And Blood Stalk slinking back into the darkness, much like the rest of those who slithered in the dark._

"...no. But we must press on." She stated quite bluntly, looking towards her retainer with a face. Hubert knew what that face meant. Gentoku was just confused.

"There had been troubling rumors that the Leicester Alliance and Kingdom of Faerghus may launch a joint attack to reclaim Garreg Mach. Our scouts and Lady Ladislava confirms we may be able to confront them at Gronder Field if we're able to rendezvous there within the week." Gentoku summed up, sighing,

"_...this might be what I need." _Edelgard thought to herself, as she grabbed Aymr in hand.

"Hubert, notify the army." She stated, Hubert raising an eyebrow.

"What is your plan, my lady?"

Edelgard simply looked towards the Fullbottle hidden in her other pocket. The same one which she attempted to use at Oche.

"We will go to war."

—

_(Later that night, back at the camp…) _

The Knights were enjoying one last night of respite together.

Dorothea was singing to the soldiers, probably attempting to boost their morale a bit. Catherine was busy polishing Thunderbrand, staying relatively silent. Bernadetta was simply speaking to Alois, as she proudly held up her signed version of _The Batcroc, _signed by Gentoku earlier, as Alois gave out a chuckle.

That just left Sento, Shamir and Petra. The three of which were simply relaxing on one of the wyverns, all packed up with Sento's equipment and Banjou's unconcious body.

"So...tonight?" Shamir stated, raising an eyebrow as Sento boarded the wyvern's back saddle.

"Yes. Tomorrow morning at the latest. Otherwise, the Imperial patrols might catch us and we'd have to leave this area. Don't want them to get too suspicious about surviving Knights of Seiros running around Adrestian territory." Sento replied with a small chuckle.

"What will these be for, then?" Petra asked him, as she showed him the three Fullbottles given to her.

"They might help you when you understand more of Cross-Z powers. The Beat Crosser and everything like that." He responded, Petra remembering that sword Banjou had while in Cross-Z's form.

"Don't worry; he'll be fine. He's suffered through worse." Sento responded,nodding. He was mostly confident, by the look on his face, as his escort wyvern rider jumped onto said wyvern, calming it before preparing to lift them off.

"Are you sure about this? I'm sure Alois probably needs some type of reinforcement other than a single wyvern." Shamir told him in her natural deadpan voice, Sento chuckling as he looked towards them.

"He'll be fine. At the end of the day, behind that jovial personality of his and all, he's a good man who knows his men. And how to fight."

Shamir simply raised an eyebrow at that statement, as the slightest hint of a smirk crossed her face, as Sento got on the wyvern.

"Don't worry; the Build Driver should be relatively fixed by now! Just try not to damage it again!" Sento pleaded the Brigidian, as the wyvern rider simply looked to Sento.

"Before I forget and leave...you're gonna need this!" He shouted, throwing her...a random square...thing.

Petra certainly had no clue where it was. Or why exactly he threw that to her.

"You're gonna need that in emergencies!" He shouted, as the wyvern itself started flapping its wings up, Petra looking up in confusion towards where Sento had gone.

Shamir did much the same, clearly just as confused as Petra on just what Sento gave them. Or whatever it's purpose was. Or even if it was anything useful to them.

She had a gut feeling it would be.

Shamir simply looked to Petra, and then at the soldiers crowded around the fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Petra had started to stare at the scene ahead of them.

Petra's face had a longing expression. Her eyes fixated at the faces of the soldiers. Their happiness. Her face morphed into a sad smile.

"What about them?" Shamir asked her, as Petra looked at her, genuinely surprised.

"How did you…" Petra began, before staring at Shamir, remembering indeed that this was Shamir they were talking about here. Petra herself sighed before continuing. "...I do not get how somehow people can still enjoy themselves in a war. Shouldn't soldiers be…"

Shamir simply looked at her in understanding eyes, as she too looked at the scene. She interrupted Petra with saying, "Not everyone is the same. I'm sure you've seen it with the Black Eagles back at the academy. It's the same here. Soldiers need morale. Without it, they'll crumble. Purposely defect. The like. Run away even at certain points."

Petra simply listened to Shamir as she continued staring at them.

"So I understand. I remember they spoke about it back at the academy. By the Professors. But…" Petra tried to speak up once again, until Shamir interjected.

"There's always more to it. Complications." Shamir briefly replied, as she too followed Petra's stare.

For a long moment, the two stared at the fire. The people cheering.

For a moment, it felt peaceful. Like the academy.

For the moment, there was peace. Peace in a surge of war around them. A war lasting more than five years.

A war that would truly have just begun in reality.

—-

"Ugh! Do we have to seriously go any further?"

"You made it this far. We're almost there."

Two people proceeded to make their way up the stairs, being careful as to not potentially warn anywhere up there. One seemed to be of regal nobility, dressed up in various shades of yellow and beige, with quite the ridiculous looking bow strapped on his back. A bag of arrows also laid behind his back, as he looked behind him at his partner.

Said partner seemed very much tired despite looking like she could swing the Silver Axe on her persona about as well as a buff Berserker could. She sluggishly walked around, her long pink hair bobbing along to the climbing of the stairs. Her outfit seemed the equivalent to that of a harlequin of some type but a lot more...open. Especially with the mixture of pink and black all around it.

The two eventually reached the top of what seemed like a tower of some kind, a small window clouding the darkness. The pink-haired woman dropped what seemed to be a small crate's worth of supplies. Mostly food, a few candles, and a couple of provisions.

"Not so loud; don't want to attract anyone else!" The man shouted, as he leaned towards the wall with the window, watching through it.

"So, Claude...mind telling me why you had to drag me out of a perfectly good nap to travel here?" The pink-haired lady asked the now named Claude, as he proceeded to stare out the window.

"Do you remember that promise that was made, Hilda? Back before all of...this?" He asked her, for which the now-named Hilda simply raised an eyebrow.

"The one about the Millenium Festival?"

"Yeah." Claude responded, rubbing his growing beard as he looked out into the sunrise. "I just thought you and me going to the Goddess Tower for a bit might calm us down. Especially after all the infighting."

"So you're just gonna leave and sneak us away to Garreg Mach while Judith and Lorenz deal with it? What happens when Judith gets word of this?" Hilda asked incredulously, for which Claude simply chuckled.

"I actually have an excuse this time for her. Scouting expedition." Claude replied, the two sharing a brief chuckle before sitting their in silence, bright smiles on their faces.

"So, if this isn't for a romantic date, then…" Hilda responded.

"I'm waiting. Got a feeling that says that we might need help." Claude responded, as Hilda simply lit a few candles.

"Always relying on that gut feeling, Claude." Hilda said with a small playful sigh. "When has your gut feeling not gotten us in trouble?"

"I don't aim to disappoint." He responded with a small laugh, as he looked outside.

"You feel that, Hilda?" He asked, not even turning to face his comrade.

"What; the blistering cold?" She asked.

"No...the wind." He responded with a chuckle.

"Yeah; the cold!" Hilda responded quite annoyed, rubbing her arms together to try and keep warm.

Claude has to admit; he had to laugh at that. This was Hilda after all.

"The wind's peaceful. Like a calm before the storm."


	9. Nostalgic Ruin

**AN: Alright, I know people don't usually celebrate these types of things but...holy shite, I did not expect to reach the amount of follows and favs I had. I know it sounds vain as hell, but let me explain…**

**I do this fanfic as a side thing, I'd say, if I have nothing to do. (That's why I warned you guys about the updates.) So, you tend to see some fanfics updating and finishing in about a year. Or actual life tends to catch up to others, leaving their five relatively abandoned. Hell, this might honestly be my only fic, which I hope to finish eventually. Not to mention that in terms of Kamen Rider fanfic-wise especially, I want to attempt to create something...different from the norm. So at least to someone like me, it's unexpected seeing how many people seem to enjoy it. So thank you. :)**

**But you aren't here for my short ramblings about me. Before we actually get on with the actual chapter though...Comment time!**

—

**Dcraus - ...I guess you'll have to read more to find out, eh? **

**linkthetoaoftime - Hm...wonder why they aren't revealing more, especially if it's so dangerous? Also, nice catch. ;)**

—**-**

**Anyways, with that out of the way, let's go!**

—-

Leaves crunching. A distant breeze blowing in the wind. The crisp sunlight, bathing onto the five very differently dressed women, armed with somewhat vastly different things, walking alongside one another in the forest. The sun, at the apex of the sky.

With the camp nearly half a day behind them, Petra was, for the most part, enjoying their walk through the forest. Or rather in her case, tree climbing. The Cross-Z Dragon laid there, floating, as one of Sento's logs were playing.

"_They always said that Faust wasn't one to back down, but rumors of Hokuto going to war? It's so...unexpected. Especially for something like this. The Smash seem...quiet. Ever since Banjou had to kill his girlfriend. And Pandora's Box...what does that have to do with all that. It created the Skywall…"_

Petra then paused the video, as she noticed a squirrel out of the corner of her eye.

"_Skywall? How could a wall fall from the sky? And what is a 'Pandora's Box? And...Banjou had a girlfriend?" _Petra asked herself in her mind as she skewered the squirrel with her sword, blinking once while briefly looking at it. She looked back to the log.

_Log 3 of 50_

She already spoiled herself on the ending; something of a caliber similar to the war here in Fodlan. To Petra, she thought it might've been the how that was important to everything that happened wherever Sento came from.

Deciding to find the others, she quickly jumped back down to the ground below, her Silver sword having the dead squirrel on it. They did need some type of protein after all. The Cross-Z Dragon simply stayed to her side, giving a small little roar as Petra gave a small smile.

In the distance, she could spot Bernadetta nearby with her Steel Bow. Shamir was also present, her own Silver Bow out, and an arrow nocked into it. Shamir was seemingly speaking something to her, albeit Petra couldn't tell what they were saying from where she was at.

Petra inquisitively decides to see what was going on, walking up towards them, pushing her way through bushes and trees. She could hear their conversation more clearly the closer she got to them.

"...calm yourself. Aim at the target." Shamir ended with, as Bernie slowly aimed it towards a deer lying in wait. It was too busy eating the shrubbery to notice the two present.

Petra could hear Bernadetta mumbling to herself, as she slowly aimed at the deer. And then...a miss.

Shamir quickly pulled out her own bow, aiming it towards the running deer and fired, smiling as the shot hit its eye, sending it slamming into a tree.

Bernie was terrified to say the least. Not about her actual bow skills it seemed, but more the brutality by which the deer was killed.

Shamir simply turned her head briefly, ignoring Bernie's staring towards the very dead deer.

"Petra." She would state, causing Bernie to turn around in surprise. She seemed freaked, but not as scared as before.

"Shamir." Petra curtly said, walking next to the two. She stared towards Bernadetta for a brief moment, before turning back to the master archer herself. "I would guess you too are helping in Bernadetta's Hunter skills?"

"That I am. Not the worst I've seen. But way too hesitant." Shamir replied, the two almost ignoring the fact that Bernie was right there.

"Hesitant? She seemed to not want to kill nature as much. An understandable trait, but it will not help if people hide behind it." Petra responded, Bernie staring between the two of them. "Or for survival terms."

Shamir simply nodded in agreement, as she grabbed Petra's silver sword.

"I'll get this to Catherine as soon as possible. Before it gets too rotten." Shamir replied, sighing. "Would you mind helping Bernadetta with the deer?"

Petra simply nodded as Shamir walked away, leaving the two with the dead deer.

"Bernadetta, I am quite surprised at how your bow skills have somewhat improved back in Nuvelle. Why do you hesitate now?" Petra asked her, as Bernie simply stared ahead at whatever remained of the deer.

"It looked so peaceful." She blurted out, causing Petra to simply raise an eyebrow.

"Whatever do you mean?" She asked, as Bernie pointed nearby. A small river so it would seem.

"It was drinking water over there. Shamir told me to shoot at it; said that it was distracted;she said the same thing when it started eating the leaves. It seemed unfair." Bernadetta responded, as she stared towards the river. Probably trying to not look at the rotting deer anymore, as Petra simply nodded.

"I see. From what I remember from before, being distracted would be an opportune time to strike. They do not expect it coming." Petra claimed, as Bernadetta looked just a little surprised at how casual Petra was when speaking about shooting wildlife down.

"Petra, you can't just be saying those things!" Bernie said to the Brigidian, who simply gave a look of confusion towards the Varley, as Bernadetta promptly tilted her own head.

Petra simply decided to walk over to where Shamir was before, Bernie following.

"What do you mean? Huntresses tend to hunt for prey, are they not?" Petra questioned, for which Bernie stuttered. She clearly didn't think that sort of thought.

"Yes, but so...brutally?" She asked, as she noticed up ahead, Shamir coming back with the silver sword, obviously getting their lunch via the deer.

"...unfortunately." Petra would state, as she looked towards the Cross-Z Dragon, lifting the Build Driver their way. It eventually dropped right into Petra's arms.

She stared at it. The metallic scar across the belt being a reminder of the fate of its last user.

Bernie simply took a peek at it herself.

She recoiled a little at the sight of the scar, keeping to herself.

The Cross-Z Dragon compacted itself, landing on top of the Build Driver.

Petra had an idea where this was going.

"I think it wants me to try and do it again." She stated generally, Bernie not really understanding what she specifically meant, as she pulled out the Dragon Fullbottle from her hand. For a moment, Petra thought about testing it out again. A sigh escaped her lips the moment after, however.

"Not now, dragon. When we return to the Alliance, then we may attempt it." Petra simply stated, the Cross-Z Dragon extending itself back to its tiny dragon-like form, screeching in annoyance at Petra.

"How do you even understand that thing?" Bernie asked, Petra staring at her for a little too long before answering.

"I...do not know." She replied, just as confused as Bernie over the reasoning of understanding this new dragon...thing.

She turned nearby, where she could hear some light conversation going on between the rest of their party.

Catherine held Thunderbrand in hand, carrying the majority of their food and such in a giant burlap sack in the other. Dorothea simply tried to help out when she could. Shamir just stood there with a couple smaller leather sacks, containing the actual important parts from the deer from before, following them.

"...it's a long story." Catherine concluded, as Dorothea sighed.

"So I see." She responded, as she noticed that Petra and Bernie were present. "Ah; how was the little break?"

"We found deer and squirrel." Petra stated rather bluntly, Dorothea being just a little surprised at the pure bluntness of said statement.

"Well then...I'm sure we could…" Dorothea muttered, before both Catherine and Shamir raised their hands in front of them.

Shamir peered her eyes ahead, as both her and Catherine looked on with a small tinge of nostalgia. A small village laid ahead, the people generally just plowing whatever remained of fertile farmland.

To the group, it took a little bit of time...but they eventually recognized where they were.

"...Remire?" Petra whispered, Shamir slowly nodding in approval.

"To think after so long, the people would just come back here and start over…" Dorothea commented quietly, as the group slowly walked into the village. Some of the ground still laid bare, the ashes and remnants of those from years before were long gone. But their effects and whatever ramifications caused this still remained.

Many quickly ran inside their makeshift houses, avoiding the new wanderers like they didn't want to get a plague.

"They seem scared of us…" Bernadetta responded, staying between Petra and Bernadetta as Shamir and Catherine took the front.

"Remember that you're technically still Imperial generals. Some of them don't forget those types of things." Shamir whispered to the group, sighing as eyes hid behind pretty much anything, peering at their new arrivals. Some with suspicion, clearly. Others, with wonder as to who they were.

They could hear the shuffling of weapons behind them, as what looked to be an older man tried to strike a pitchfork towards the group from behind.

Catherine immediately pulled out Thunderbrand at the same time Petra pulled out her sword, both of them being able to intercept the farming tool before it could hit any of them.

The man tried to push harder. Obviously, having two people preventing that from happening (and one of those people being THE Thunder Catherine) didn't exactly help.

"In the name of...Seiros, you will be punished!" He yelled, the surrounding villagers absolutely worried about what was even going on.

Catherine and Petra for their part held their swords to hold the pitchfork while Dorothea ducked underneath, attempting to talk to said man.

"Why did you try to attack us?" She stated, the man staring towards Dorothea with a bit of anger. She assumed it was for something personal.

"You...Imperial bastards!" He shouted, causing the five to become the center of attention. Catherine and Shamir weren't amused, but still fairly a little cautious.

"Any ideas?" Shamir whispered to her, as Catherine held the pitchfork away from the two.

"Doesn't look drunk; might be something personal." Catherine whispered back as she gave a look towards Petra, the two kicking him lightly back. His body stumbled back, nearly collapsing.

"Your people are exactly who we don't want around these parts! Haven't you caused enough pain!" They shouted, much to the shock of the ex-Adrestian nobles.

"Father...that's Thunder Catherine and Captain Shamir. They ARE Knights of Seiros." One of the townspeople stated from a nearby hut, looking quite worried at the situation unfolding.

"Yeah? Well who are they behind them? They've come to pillage us all!"

"I assure you, we are not! We were here to head towards the Alliance!" Dorothea pleaded, only for the man to immediately yell beyond Dorothea's soft-spoken voice.

"The Alliance? From Adrestian territory? Bah! You've probably just brought the patrols here to come check on us after five long years! Finally come to care about the little old villages who paid for the backbone of the Empire with it being torched!" He shouted, clearly on the verge of charging again when, having enough of this old man's shit, Shamir proceeded to step in front of all of them, Catherine raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"They've defected. They are under custody of the Knights; any action against them will be taken as an act of Imperial loyalty, and thus will be swiftly dealt with." Shamir stated, masking her absolute disgust of being this direct with a neutral, serious look. This was as the townsman from before intervened, placing himself between the senile man and the group.

"I do apologize; my father still hasn't gone over everything that's happened. Very much loyal to the Church, Lady Shamir and Lady Catherine. We can explain everything…" the man tried to state, only for Shamir to simply stop him.

"No need. I understand. So do they." She responded, nudging to the three Adrestian women. Afterwards, she nodded to the dead meat inside the sack they were carrying. "Would you mind if we set up a fire near here? We have extra meat we can hand out to the people if need be."

The man simply nodded, as he went to go collect some wood.

"Petra, Bernadetta, go with him. He might need help. I'll stay nearby; see if there's anything else around here that needs to be hunted. Catherine, Dorothea, make sure the meat's secure. Don't want any thieves getting any bright ideas. Notify any of us if there's an actual Imperial or Faerghus patrol nearby. Don't want any of them getting any ideas or for them to possibly damage Remire or us." Shamir commanded, the group simply nodding before departing ways.

Shamir simply sighed after the majority of them were gone, looking to where the senile man who tried to kill them went. He seemed to have made his way back into the little hut his family most likely occupied. A woman stood in front of the tent, eyeing Shamir curiously as the mercenary went off.

—

"So…" Dorothea stated quite awkwardly, and Catherine simply standing off to the side. It was absolute silence between the two, the only sounds being that of those in the village, working to survive. Fielding whatever crops they could. For the very little of them who decided to return after 5 years.

Catherine simply looked at her with a slightly annoyed look and a huff.

Dorothea wasn't exactly one to simply back down from a conversation, however. Especially when there was nothing else to do.

"Why do you care so much about Rhea?" Dorothea asked out of interest. Catherine twitched a little before briefly looking towards Dorothea. Her head snapped back to where it was before soon after.

"Why'd you associate yourself with the Empress?" She shot back, Dorothea genuinely taken aback by Catherine's coldness. Then she simply stayed silent, thinking about how to answer this.

After another silent moment, she answered, as the air tensed just a little from their previous interaction.

"At the end of the day, her father was the reason that the opera house was formed. Why I became who I became. Hell, Edelgard briefly confirmed back at the academy that she helped me get into said academy. As much as Edie isn't no saint, she's no hellspawn either." Dorothea claimed, Catherine actually turning slightly in interest. "I can understand the reasoning to her wanting to bring down the Church. Not everyone follows the religion. I certainly don't."

A small moment passed before Catherine began giving a small snicker, Dorothea raising an eyebrow.

"I can see what you mean." She responded, much to the songstress's surprise. "Honestly though, bloodshed wouldn't be the first thing on my mind. Much less a war like this."

"Honestly, Edie briefly thought that too. That she could bring peace throughout the land without a war." Dorothea claimed, as Catherine moved her body to face her.

"How'd she react?" Catherine responded, as Dorothea simply looked down for a moment.

"She said that Rhea wouldn't listen to reason; probably ex-communicate her or worse. That she was some tyrant who could be reasoned with through war. Honestly, it's a little far-fetched but...the reasoning for it sounded understandable. But to last this long…"

"Surprising, isn't it?" Catherine inquired. "Before this war, the Knights of Seiros thought they were ready for this. But then to see so much of the Imperial Army marching...and then what happened to Garreg Mach." She stated, looking towards where the former monastery used to be. It stood a distance away, the lights that would show the way gone. Simply a decrepit old building in its place, abandoned and left to rot.

The two stayed silent for a bit longer, the air calming as a light wind blew through the area.

"Sentimental, isn't it?" Dorothea stated, as Catherine chuckled.

"I briefly remember when my class went over here. Small break. There used to be an old man. Not the one that attacked us of course, but this old guy knew how to make some mean pastries. Forgot the name of them." She stated with a chuckle, Dorothea following suit. The two probably didn't want to talk about either the Empress nor the Archbishop at a time like this anymore.

"Did he happen to make those little honey drops from Almyra?" She asked, Catherine's eyes, for a rare time, genuinely lighting up.

"Yeah; same guy! Whatever happened to him?" Catherine asked, a small smile present on her face as she seemed to begin to think some nostalgic thoughts.

"_Cassie, the man's selling Almyran honey drops!" _

"_Coming, Ladi__!" _

She simply gave a bright smile as Dorothea concluded her own thoughts out loud.

"...last time I checked though, he went to Morfis. Wanted to explore the world, he said. Although that was back just before the Remire Massacre, so I'll admit; I don't know myself." Dorothea said in thought, as Catherine turned to her.

"Did he give the recipe to anyone specifically? I'd imagine considering his popularity here, he'd need someone to pass on the legacy. Had been doing so for what; 15 years at least?" Catherine asked, as the songstress chuckled.

"Well, he gave the recipes to both me and Mercedes. We were regulars there at the time; helped him out sometimes after classes back at the Monastery. Well, when her and Annette weren't busy burning the kitchen down and when Bernie wasn't having an anxiety attack. Or Edie." She replied, the two smiling as they relaxed. Dorothea herself reminsciened about the past a little more as the two simply stayed in silence.

Breaking said silence, Catherine simply sighed.

"This doesn't fix much. But...at the very least, maybe if Lady Rhea comes back...perhaps we could try making it. Or we can save it when the war's won." Catherine stated, Dorothea giving a small smile.

"Maybe."

—

_(Meanwhile…)_

"Again, I very much apologize for everything that's happened. My father tends to be very much fearful of what happened regarding the Massacre. Not to mention the war that's going on. I'm sure either of you could understand, right?" The townsman asked as he lugged a woodcutting axe, as Bernadetta and Petra followed. The Cross-Z Dragon stalked a small distance behind them, weaving through trees and such to avoid being detected.

"I think I do." Bernie responded, as Petra nodded. She was listening out for anything that might surprise them. Like a Blood Stalk, or the Empire. Or even the Kingdom, if they were still hunting Adrestians.

"Good, good. I was afraid you'd think we'd be actually killing you; we just came back after Garreg Mach burned. Assumed the few of us that came would be able to slowly rebuild Remire Village from the ground up. Or at least use some of the abandoned buildings to try and start to rebuild." He stated. "Thankfully, I don't think the Empire cared enough to revisit this place. At most, we get a wandering trader, or a peddler. Bandits rarely visited this place. And other than that, and the occasional wandering Mittlefrank singer, we don't get much in visitors."

Petra and Bernie silently listened, as Petra looked towards the Cross-Z Dragon. It wanted to at the very least screech a little. A small nod and some small screeches did confirm that Petra had to hold her hand out.

"Why exactly…" she began asking, as what seemed to be blue pipes began to form in front of her, as she widened her eyes. Eventually, the coalesced into the same weapon Banjou had been using before as the Rider; the Beat Crosser Sword.

The townsman didn't seem to notice, too busy cutting down a small tree, while Bernie helped with keeping watch.

"...how?" She whispered, as the Cross-Z Dragon stared at her. It certainly wasn't going to give any answers right now.

She decided to shrug that idea for later, walking off towards Bernadetta as she idly stood around, the man busy chopping off said tree.

Bernie turned to Petra, actually noticing the foreign sword on her personnel.

"W-where did you get that from?" She asked her, for which she gave a brief nod of the head towards where the Cross-Z Dragon was hiding.

"Oh." Was all Bernie managed to muster out, as the townsman seemed to have a hard time bringing the tree down.

Petra turned to the man, as she pulled out one of the Fullbottles that she got from Sento. Hedgehog, so he claimed.

Trying to remember how it worked, she inserted it into the Beat Crosser.

_**[Hedgehog! Special Tune!]**_

"What do you…" the townsman began, as Bernie started to help him move back.

She looked towards the bottom, pulling it three times.

_**[Hippare!]**_

It started to play some weird techno music that confused everyone present. And that could be heard within a small mile or so radius.

"What...is this?" She questioned, as the sword began to pop up with additional spikes alongside its blade.

She felt...a surge of power, so it would seem. Much similiar to how she felt the first time she met Banjou. The first time she used Cross-Z's form.

She slashed the tree a few times.

_**[Mega Slash!]**_

The spikes from the sword, punctured across the tree's center, as it eventually collapsed on the other end, thankfully, away from the three, as the tree separated into small pieces. Easily picked up pieces. Although the side effect to using said Beat Crosser...was that the spikes kept going.

Soon, three trees ended up collapsing on themselves, leaving the three with an abundance of wood to possibly utilize.

And the three shocked members of the group being in...well, shock.

"What just happened?" Bernie asked, the townsman nodding in agreement to the question, as Petra stared at the sword. Then at the Cross-Z Dragon hiding on a nearby tree branch, staying relatively silent while staring at Petra.

She turned towards the other two, in as much of a confused state as the rest of the group as she lifted the sword up to her eye level.

Petra then spoke a response.

"...I do believe I have solved the wood problem."

—-

As the three lugged wood back to the mostly desolate village, they spotted Shamir returning as well; carrying what looked to be a dead beaver. Three, in fact.

They also spotted Catherine and Dorothea with what seemed to be a couple of kids nearby. They still carried their previous spoils, with a small fire already briefly brewing; them cooking the small squirrel meat first.

Catherine especially seemed just a bit more lively than her previous cold self, as she and Dorothea began speaking about what sounded like something about sweets. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shamir having a small smirk towards Catherine's attitude, as Shamir also looked towards Petra, noticing the new presence of the Beat Crosser Sword and her Silver Sword both latched in her hand and in its holster respectively.

The two gave a brief stare to one another for a brief moment. Just as quickly though, their stare stopped, the two groups walking over to where the rest of their entourage were.

"Thunder Catherine, playing with children. Never thought I would see the day." Shamir neutrally stated, Catherine turning to see Shamir with a smirk on her face.

"Hey; I'm not that heartless!" She responded, only for Shamir to stare, that smirk continuing to be plastered on her face.

"I would beg to differ. If any of our battles proved otherwise." Shamir simply responded, as Catherine simply stared at her fellow Knight with a flustered look.

"What is going on here?" Petra simply asked, slowly helping to build the small fire, as some other kids came back with buckets of water from the nearby river. Probably to put out the fire in case it got too much.

"Nothing you should be concerned about." Catherine replied, attempting to return a more stoic mood. It instead was filled with a bit of continuing flustering at Shamir's discovery of Catherine's softer side.

"It's just buisness, Petra. Between the two of us." Shamir replied, as the two contributed their gains to the fire.

Soon, the townspeople, once fearful of the group, slowly stumbled out, some looking pretty worse for wear. Some were barefoot at most. Others seemed a little malnourished. And others looked very much a little dirty.

They seemed to have barely survived until the group's arrival. Some brought out some grains of rice. Others, bread. To the people of Remire, it seemed like they were going to have a feast today.

To the Adrestian group and the two Knights of Seiros, it was a simple meal.

Everyone began to gather around the fire, as the old man Egar from before stepped out, staring at the scene, slowly stumbling to the group.

In a small bit of concern, Petra placed her hands on the Beat Crosser, before a hand reached out to stop her. Expecting Shamir to be the one to stop her, she looked up...only to realize it was Catherine who held the blade. She gave a brief look of sympathy, before she sat to Petra's right, giving a nod. The Brigidian princess let go of her hand on the foreign sword, as Egar simply placed down his share.

Catherine and Dorothea immediately recognized them.

"...Almyran honey drops?" They both stated at the same time in a small bit of surprise. The old man smiled as he started giving them out to the kids.

The two women looked to each other, before staring towards where the old man was, as he gave a brief look to them. It looked a lot less hostile and desperate than before; it seemed much more tired. But happy.

The two women gave each other looks as both Shamir and Petra have raised eyebrows. It was weird to them seeing the two out of everyone reacting in such a manner. They assumed they could squeeze it out of them later, as they went back to beginning to eat what they could.

Bernie simply stayed silent, as a kid approached her.

"Miss?" The kid asked, poking Bernie in the leg, as she looked up from her small bit of deer, the kid staring at the book sitting next to her.

"Is that some bedtime story, miss?"

"Y...yeah." Bernie responded a little shyly, as this caused the kid's face to light up with general excitement.

"Could you read it to us?" The kid asked.

"U...us?" She asked, as she noticed a group of kids simply in a circle. They all seemed to share one of the beavers that happened to be present, each taking a turn eating it. They all looked to Bernadetta.

Obviously, seeing that many people stare at her naturally crept into Bernie's inner lack of confidence. But, with a small gift of air, and a small smile, she decided to do so.

"...yeah. Of course." She responded, slowly shifting away from her current group to speak with the kids, Batcroc book in hand. As she sat to the side of the group, the group, consisting of kids who looked roughly between the ages of what seemed to be 5-10 at oldest. She admitted, it was a little uncomfortable. Her shaking was clear proof of that.

But she went through it anyways. With a small smile, and her Bow slung around her back, she sat down, seeing the eyes of the kids glued to her and the book.

"So…"she stated, opening the book. She closed her eyes...and for a brief moment, her dream from before briefly popped up. Except with a single sentence she hadn't heard from before.

"_...there won't be a legacy left to save for your kind…" _

Bernie opened her eyes.

And she began to read.

—-

Whilst everyone was enjoying themselves around the fire, Shamir and Petra simply stayed together around the fire.

"This is...rather comforting." Petra stated quietly, as Shamir simply looked towards the fire. She didn't even pay attention to Petra as she stared at the fire.

_Shamir would stare at a young man around her age, as he saw a castle burning, standing in front of her laying body. The Adrestian Empire marched ever closer to the capital. Her bow laid near to her side, a dead woman staring at her just ahead, a sword still so desperately clutched to her personnel. _

_Dagda burned with every step the Empire took. _

"That it is." Shamir simply commented, staring. She and Petra had already eaten faster than most, and thus while the others were picking the remnants of the collected meat and plants, the two sat there.

Petra pulled out her Dragon Fullbottle, as the Cross-Z Dragon stayed to her side, in its compact form.

Both of the two foreign women stared at the Fullbottle, different thoughts coming to mind.

One on Banjou, the other on what the future held with that power.

Whatever the case...it seemed the two would've been able to handle whatever the hell came to them.

As the two continued to stare at them, they noticed Catherine and Dorothea speaking to the old man who tried to kill them earlier. All three of them seemed a lot more...calmer. They could briefly make out something about 'Almyra', before the old man briefly left.

He returned with what looked to be a big jar of honey.

Catherine and Dorothea looked very much excited. And as Shamir and Petra watched, they became just a little amused at the thought of the two out of everyone bonding...over honey.

It was rather sweet.

Eventually, after what looked to be a brief argument, Catherine held on to the honey as Dorothea simply huffed in a wince of stubbornness, eventually going back to where the group was sitting from before.

The two couldn't help but continuing to smile at the rather hopeful moment.

—

_(A few hours later…)_

As the sun began to dawn against the east, the group started to walk out, actual optimism plastered on their faces. Bernie nibbled on a small piece of bread as Catherine proceeded to lug the jar of honey they had. Dorothea hummed some type of tune, probably to compliment the somewhat nice weather outside.

At this point, both Shamir and Petra's curiosities had peaked, as they looked over to the Knight and Dorothea.

"Dorothea, I must ask; what happened regarding the village? You two seem happy." Petra asked, eyebrow raised as Dorothea simply smiled.

"It's nothing much. Just a tinge of memories from the Academy." She responded with a smile, as she continued humming her tune.

"Catherine, did you suddenly just change personalities halfway through our travels?" Shamir asked, as Catherine held that smirk on her face.

"Nope; just remembering some old thoughts from the Academy." Catherine reiterated.

Petra and Shamir simply stared each other in equal amounts of befuddled confusion, clearly having no idea how to actually figure out what was with the two.

Those thoughts were interrupted when they noticed footprints. Petra kneeled in front of them, looking at them.

"Fresh from last night. Leading to…" Petra stated, looking up towards where the footprints lead. The entrance to the Goddess Tower, so it would seem. Garreg Mach laid a short distance ahead as well.

Shamir noticed it too, as she looked toward the other three members, then to Catherine, who noticed Shamir's look.

"Catherine, someone might be in the tower. I'll have myself and Petra go up. You three stand guard outside." She commanded.

She simply nodded. "Fair enough; but stay safe."

"Catherine...I should be saying that to you." Shamir deadpanned, as Catherine gave a hearty laugh, relaying the directions towards Dorothea and Bernie, as Shamir and Petra quickly moved into the tower.

"Petra, your sword." Shamir stated, as Petra handed over her Silver Sword towards the mercenary, as the Brigidian princess held up the Beat Crosser.

"Take lead." Shamir told Petra, as she slowly moved up the steps. They heard brief sounds of shuffling; couldn't had been more than two people at most up there. Three if one was an assassin.

Petra simply walked her way up, the two eventually reaching the top.

Petra looked around, looking for anything.

Then, she ended up ducking underneath a certain axe, before clashing with said axe.

The first being. Or rather, very pink-haired human.

"Petra? Shamir?" Claude replied in recognition as he stepped out of the shadow behind a pillar, his bow in hand as he lowered it. This was around the same time Shamir came up as well, sword in hand.

He realized the situation at hand.

"Hilda, those two aren't here to fight; lower your weapons!" he stated, as Hilda raised an eyebrow, giving a look from the corner of her eyes.

"Well, they could be fakes, Claude!" Hilda pleaded, Claude simply giving a small snicker.

"Petra, what was I doing just after the mock battle?" Claude asked, earning a very bewildered look from Hilda, as Petra somehow stayed relatively calm despite the clashing of sword and axe and the life or death situation in front of her.

"You were sleeping on the ground. I was able to introduce you to tree climbing after you failed to do so." Petra summed up, Claude deciding to nod in satisfaction at the answer.

"They're real." Claude responded, Hilda giving a small grunt of annoyance as she backed away from Petra, placing her Silver Axe away.

"So...anyone else came with you two? That we know?" Claude asked once the situation calmed down.

"Varley, Catherine, and Arnault. Along with us two." Shamir replied, as she noticed, Claude giving brief stares towards Petra's Beat Crosser sword. She assumed that the leader of the Alliance probably knew about it in some respects based on just the look alone.

She didn't budge at the moment though.

"Huh...nice to see that Dorothea's alive. But, Bernie's with them?" Hilda responded with a bit of surprise, as she mumbled some incoherent things to herself.

"So...I'm guessing you three are here for that promise made by you-know-who?" Claude asked them.

"No actually; we were hoping to escape to the Alliance." Petra replied, Shamir nodding in approval of the statement. Claude's face morphed into a bit of suspicion and thought.

"What happened?" He asked with less of a casual tone that he had originally.

"It's a long story." Petra stated with a sigh, as she looked towards Claude. "Why are you two present in the Tower?"

"Also a long story." Claude stayed with a small laugh following afterwards. He relaxed from the brief moment of suspicion from before, returning to his much more usual, casual tone.

It then entered a brief intermission of silence, before Claude decided it was time to break it once more.

"So...we've got a couple days to be here. Why don't we talk about it for the time being?" He stated, as he sat down. Hilda for her part, was quite ecstatic.

"Finally!" She stated, sitting down as Hilda stretched. "I can actually get a nap!"

Petra and Shamir did much the same after looking at each other, as Hilda stretched out.

"Alright...who wants to start?" Claude asked them.

—

"How long till we reach…"

"Ay, shut your damn mouth. We're getting close to the Monastery. Then, we can talk all we want as we bathe in the spoils the damn Church left behind!" The leader of the group told one of his kin, as a group of men began arriving at the ruins of what looked to be what was once the marketplace of Garreg Mach. Overturned wagons and broken stands littered the area, rotten fruit and rusted arrows dotting the landscape in front of them. Much like the rest of the place, it was lost to the spoils of war, ripe for the picking.

"Oy, Pallardó…" one of the gruffier bandits stated, their boss turning around, his look and beard screaming bandit as it looked somewhat unkempt, but yet near at the same time somehow. He pulled out his own Steel Sword, aiming it right towards the bandit.

"It's boss, kid. Get it straight or you ain't coming home in one piece." The bandit leader warned, the gruffier man backing off a little. He then turned the to the rest of the group, straightening out his fur coat.

"Alright; today is free reign! We gain the spoils, sell them on the Black Market, and we'll be the richest men in the underground!" Pallardo yelled, his bandit cohorts cheering on in agreement.

One, however, disagreed.

"I'd think you could do much more than that."

The voice stepped out, his black hair somehow neatly kempt. His white shirt underneath a beige jean jacket, one side emblazoned with the symbol of the Adrestian Empire present. A foreign man, wearing foreign clothes, with what Pallardo detected as some type of foreign weapon in hand.

"Who are you?" Pallardo asked, his men immediately raising their weapons towards the unknown man. The man simply raised his weapon.

"I'm someone who believes that your goals may align with my current plan. I can pay you up front for it." He stated quite plainly. Pallardo simply gave a smirk.

"Or...we could get rich simply off that weapon of yours and we can be on our way." He stated quite smugly, as one of his thieves attempted to yank off the weapon he had.

The unknown man smiled, as he aimed the weapon behind the thief...firing it point blank at him.

_**[Steam Shot! Cobra!]**_

Immediately, a cobra-like entity popped up from the gun, slamming through the thief followed by a brief explosion. There was nothing left but smoke and ash where Pallardo's thief once stood.

"What was that about taking my weapon?" He stated, as Pallardo genuinely looked towards the man.

"W...what do you want from us, sir!" He shouted in a small bit of fear, as the unknown man gave a smile on his face.

"Simple...you've heard of the bounties out on those generals from the Adrestia? The ones who tried to kill the Empress?" He asked the bandit leader, for which he straightened himself out, adjusting his fur coat.

"So what if I have heard about it?" Pallardo bluffed, as the man simply laughed.

"They will travel here quite soon. I want you to bring them. Alive or dead. They'll have Knights of Seiros with them." He stated, Pallardo being even more frightened.

"Are you kidding me? Knights of Seiros? How the hell are we supposed to fight them?" Pallardo asked in a confused manner. Only for the man to pull out what looked to be some type of weird cylindrical device. The shape of a Phoenix was seen on the front of the bottle, as he tossed it. The bandit leader barely caught it, as he inspected it.

"Specialized new thing from the Adrestian Empire. Consider it advanced payment. The rest will come when you bring proof of their bodies." The man stated.

"Clever man. I'll do it then, Mr…"

"Soichi. Soichi Isuragi. Adrestian Advisor to the Empress herself." Soichi responded with a small smile.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Isuragi." Pallardo replied, as he watched Soichi walk away past the bridge.

Once he got a far enough distance, Soichi couldn't help but chuckle.

"Have humans always been this naïve?" He said to himself quietly out loud, as he leaned against a tree, looking at his own Transsteam Gun, before looking towards Garreg Mach.

"I had a gut feeling you'd be here, Petra. Let us see if indeed you have the same power as Banjou himself." He said to himself.

"It's only a matter of time until I can get back what I've lost."


	10. Daybreak's Hunt

**AN: So...for those of you wondering just what the hell the last chapter was, that was my attempt at building the setting and an attempt at character growth! So yeah...I'll admit, I have no idea how that went. I'm guessing okay considering there doesn't seem like there's any major complaints for the time being. **

**Anyways, with no comments at the current time being, let's just...get into this, I guess. Also, fun fact; apparently the longest chapter I've written thus far. **

**Obviously, if you've got any questions or you believe there might be a problem regarding a certain thing in the fanfic, please, go ahead. At the end of the day, genuine criticism is important to anyone. :)**

**One last thing; happy one year anniversary to this fanfic (despite only 3 of those months actually consisting of me being active. XD)**

—

The stones pitter-pattering. Four people sitting in relative silence, as the sky darkened into a near pitch black color. And weapons laid a strewn around, some of which were heavily important to their users to various degrees.

Alongside, of course, a Cross-Z Dragon simply there just in the middle.

"And that is how we got here." Petra simply ended, as Claude gave a look of thought while Hilda...well, Hilda looked about as bewildered as ever about the tale Petra just told to the group.

"So...let me get this straight. You met the vigilante known as the Muscle Dragon. You knew him from back in Brigid during that war. The two of you accidentally found Bernie. Then Edelgard tried to convince you to hand over the Build Driver. You said no. Brief skirmish breaks out. Then some snake man in armor shows up out of nowhere, brands the three of you as traitors, and then you three somehow end up with the Knights of Seiros and Sento. And now, you're hoping to escape to the Alliance to come up with some sort of idea on how to deal with this?" Claude summarized as best as he could. He looked a little befuddled at the whole story, but looked to understand the majority of it.

After a brief silence, not to mention both Shamir and Petra looking at each other for a brief moment, they both nodded.

"You seem to have gotten the entirety of the story, Claude." Petra stated in agreement, Claude stretching on his back. And yet...Petra seemed to realize something. "Wait...how do you know Sento?"

"Well, let's just say that we've been housing the majority of the Knights of Seiros at Deidriu for quite a bit. At least in Alois's case, we moved their base of operations from Garreg Mach over to there for the time being. You know, after what happened there half a decade ago and all." Claude explained, as Shamir simply nodded. Considering she was also a Knight of Seiros after all.

Petra was confused to say the least, as she looked to Shamir.

"Is that why we are escaping to the Alliance, then?" She asked Shamir, who stared back at her.

"Partially." She told her after a brief moment of thought. "Although, the obvious would be that the three of you are being hunted by the Empire. You could yield valuable information to us. Hiding in the relatively neutral Alliance would be best for the time being."

Petra seemed to understand this, as she looked towards the leader of said Alliance, alongside his technical 'retainer' as said retainer looked very much bored of the entire thing.

"So…" Hilda stated, attempting to continue any form of conversation.

"Nonetheless, I'm sure you two are tired from the march over here…" Claude offered, pulling out what little they had stored away for the trip. A few bits of non-perishables, such as bread and a few local herbs from outside the tower, placed on the ground. "Possibly even hungry?"

"We just ate. Remire's not looking much better." Shamir noted, as she and Petra noticed Claude's small twitch at the mention of the village. It left a bad taste in his mouth, as his face morphed into a subtle frown.

"Wasn't it abandoned after what happened?" Claude asked the group, Hilda staying relatively quiet throughout the entire thing. The thought probably even haunted her.

"Some people moved back in. They looked to be barely living off the scraps left behind from the village." Petra commented, Claude simply scratching his chin in thought.

"Well...that'd be something that'll I'd have to tell the rest of the Alliance. If they'd bother to listen without breaking out into argument every five seconds." Claude stated, as he scratched the back of his head in a tiny bit of nervousness.

"Still that bad, huh?" Shamir asked, Claude simply staying relatively silent. A short nod of yes simply confirmed what was being subtly implied.

"I mean, thankfully the Alliance hasn't dragged itself into the war just yet. But with rumors of Edelgard and her crew moving up here? It's only a matter of time before things get dicey over here." Claude reacted, as he looked towards Petra.

"Ah, Petra; you've stayed relatively quiet. How has Brigid been?" He asked.

Petra snapped out of whatever thoughts she had on her, as she looked towards the Alliance leader and his pink-haired lackey.

"Brigid as well, has stayed relatively neutral to the war. However, if I were to be switched over to the Alliance, then there might be a chance they will be dragged in by force." She briefly summarized the situation back at her home. Claude for his part, simply stayed somewhat understanding. Although the gears inside his head began to turn…

"Looks like we're both in a rough situation." Hilda pretty much concluded regarding all of them, as they sat there, before they all stood up.

"Well, the two of us are hopefully planning on scanning over Garreg Mach for a few days. I'm sure you five want to actually explore the Academy as much as we do; been thinking about converting it into a secondary base of operations. Maybe even turn it back into the main base for the Knights if we get the upper hand." Claude explained. The group simply looked to each other for a brief moment. Shamir especially seemed to have a look of thought for a moment.

"Sounds like a decent plan. I'd imagine though we'd have to deal with whatever wildlife's roamed the area since then. Or possible Empire scout parties." Shamir commented, as Claude simply nodded. As the two somewhat discussed potential options for entry into their old academy, Hilda decided to drag Petra aside for a brief moment, her eyes being a just a little cautious of the Brigidian princess.

Yeah

"So, Petra. Have you heard anything from anyone else?" She asked. Hilda didn't seem relatively worried about her former classmates. At least on the outside, what with her radiant smile on her face.

"No. Although, from what I had heard briefly while approaching Oche, according to our driver, House Bergliez is planning to support whatever Edelgard may be planning." Petra stated, noticing out of the corner of her eye the presence of the Cross-Z Dragon.

Hilda didn't seem to notice it yet.

"Huh...so Caspar's dedicating himself to the Empire, hm? A shame." Hilda stated, as she looked towards Petra. For a moment, she seemed to be thinking, trying to imagine any potential way to pass the time, while the more experienced/"experienced" mercenary/leader respectively attempted to try and come up with some form of strategy.

"So...is fashion in Brigid always so...loose?" Hilda stated after a long moment of silence, as Petra simply looked a little surprised at the change in topic.

"It is. We like to enjoy our jewelers as much as anyone else. It helps to represent our heritage once we are of age." Petra briefly explained, as Hilda looked on.

"Well, I'm sure a certain someone might be interested in that type of look…" Hilda teased, as Petra tilted her head in a small amount of confusion.

"What...does that mean?" She asked, as Hilda chuckled. A whistle followed, and as both of their heads turned to face Shamir and Claude, they both noticed Claude's face returning to that of a smile.

"Alright; Hilda, pack up our things! Looks like we're going back to the Academy!" He said in a small amount of excitement, as Hilda stated at Claude.

"...you're making me lug all that stuff BACK down the stairs?" She asked, the Riegan chuckling in response.

"C'mon Hilda; surely those 'noodle arms' got that gear up here; why not bring it back down? I'll even serve you twice as much when we get back to Deidriu."

A relative moment of silence followed.

Then Hilda spoke.

"...make it twice as much for me and Balthie, and it's a done deal." She offered, as Claude gave a nod.

"Fine by me. Shamir, I'm sure you can tell the rest of them down there? I want to speak to Petra specifically."

Shamir simply looked towards Claude with a confused look, before looking to Petra. A small nod from the heiress allowed Shamir to relax, as she maintained her neutral look, making her way down first.

After Hilda made her way down with the gear, Petra and Claude were the only ones left in the top floor of the Goddess Tower.

"...your little dragon friend can come out now. I'm sure even machines can get a little tired of flapping their little built wings." Claude stated, as the Cross-Z Dragon made it's way to Petra, much to her shock at Claude somehow knowing about it.

"How did you..?" She asked, as Claude simply placed a finger up to near Petra's lips. A small wink followed as his smile grew a little more.

"Sento told us a little about Banjou Ryuga. May have also learned how to find out more sensitive info from whatever thing he uses to record his notes. Good man from what I heard. A bit more impulsive than I expected. Reminds me of what would happen if you mix an angry Lysithea and Balthus together…" Claude stated, as Petra slowly took out the Beat Crosser from the floor.

She clearly did not to be fooled into handing over the tech a second time. Not after what had happened as a result of it.

Claude, noticing the potential tension, simply backed up a little.

"Hold on, hold on, Petra! I'm not asking you to hand it over. I'm just saying that Banjou and Cross-Z's powers are safe with us for the time being." Claude stated in an attempt to ease the nearly chaotic situation that would have ensued. He even raised his hands in the air, showing that he wouldn't immediately grab his bow.

Petra slowly thought about it as she was on the verge of pulling out Cross-Z's Beat Crosser. Eventually, she lowered it, as Claude slowly lowered his hands as well once it was clear she didn't see him as suspcious.

"Now…can I grab Failnaught without getting guillotined in private? Haven't even said my final rite." Claude replied in an attempt to garner some positive humor, as he grabbed the giant bow in question, lifting it and slinging it around his back. He saw a small chuckle out of Petra.

"Now...shall we go down and revisit some old times?" Claude stated, before Petra briefly stopped him.

"You still did not explain how you got here." She said, as Claude simply looked towards her. After a moment of confliction in his mind, he shrugged, opting to summarize it to her.

"Well…" he began.

—

_(Deidriu, 4 days before present day)_

"..._Claude, you must know that it sounds like one of the most ill-conceived plans you've come up with. And to leave at such an important time?" A man with what looked to be long lavender hair stated. His armor was much more ornate as opposed to Claude, instead decorated in much the same color as his hair. Little strands of gold surrounded his armor, alongside a small circular armored item on his Chestplate in the shape of a rose. _

_The day in Deidriu was bright, the sounds of seagulls chirping and of other birds chirping. Servants silently passed the two as they were walking down a hallway in the chambers of the Alliance's parliament._

_Claude simply scoffed off at the individual's worry, giving a small laugh. _

"_You worry too much, Lorenz. Always worried about the probability and 'by the book' type things. Not like people would worry too much, right?" He asked his comrade, the now named Lorenz Hellman Gloucester__. _

"_You're technically the de facto leader of the Leicester Alliance, Claude. A lot of people will worry." _

"_It'll just be a couple of days, Lorenz. No sweat." _

_Lorenz sighed. _

"_The things I do for you sometimes, Riegan. You know Judith won't be happy about this. Neither would the old man. Especially if you take the Alliance's little secret and use it out in public." Lorenz told him, only for Claude to chuckle. _

"_Relax. If anything, it'll just be me and Hilda dealing with it. I'm sure you and Judith can handle Weathervane and them." Claude stated. A brief laugh followed by a cough came from Lorenz, as he straightened himself up. _

"_And if you come back to the Leicester Alliance burning on fire from the civil war that breaks out?" Lorenz asked hypothetically, as Claude gave a smaller smile back to his comrade. _

"_Simple; I pick up the pieces and try to fight back. And if all else fails, we leave and try again in the future." He replied, Lorenz giving a small look of frustration, which eventually devolved into a tiny snicker._

"_...well, it is clear to me you aren't the best long-term planner here, Claude. It seems Garreg Mach and five years of war around us hasn't changed that aspect of you." _

"_Hey; gotta stay positive in times like these. Don't want a brooding guy just aimlessly trying to control a country." Claude stated with a small wink, only for Lorenz to raise one of his eyebrows as he smiled. _

"_More like you are an unorthodox leader trying to keep a country together, Claude. Although those unorthodox tactics might be the one advantage we have over both the Kingdom and the Empire." Lorenz stated, as by that point it was Claude's turn to raise one of his eyebrows. _

"_What about the tech the old man gave us? Not to mention Sento's presence?" He asked him, as the Gloucester noble simply turned to Claude, the two stopping in the middle of the hallway. _

"_As much as what the old man and his motley crew gave us helps, I would rather not immediately uncover it. Even both of us could agree...it's rather moot to reveal all our hands so early. It could be a detriment to the war effort." Lorenz argued, as Claude simply stared at him with somewhat of a blank stare. _

"_Or it could instill enough fear in our enemies to the point where they'll surrender and we can all go home, peace and all!" Claude jested, as Lorenz's face morphed into one of seriousness. _

"_Claude...even you know that won't happen. Sento mentioned there were more than just him present. Not to mention the implications either side might have since we hold not only the Knights of Seiros but on top of that, we also hold the man who created that technology. Imagine if the Empire caught wind of him here; they would most likely push the majority of their forces straight to Deidriu just to hold him hostage. Or worse…" Lorenz replied, as the two simply stood there for the moment. The air in the room felt a little bit tense, especially in such a cramped base like a hallway._

"_Well...I'm sure we'll cross that bridge when we get there." He told them, as they decided to continue walking. Eventually, after a while, the two arrived at a set of big doors, the sound of arguing and yelling being heard on the other end. _

"_How long has this…" _

"_A whole week now. I'm surprised that most of the lords hadn't started a fistfight in the halls with how they're very much...patriotic about their stance on the war. Especially with their neutrality." Lorenz told Claude, as his face turned into that of concern. _

_Claude understood that concern very well. _

_And Lorenz saw exactly how Claude was looking at him. _

"_Do not worry; I will hopefully convince my father not to go to war. Or to break away. Acheron's a cocky man, but he forgets that Lord Gloucester also had a son that learned how to be exactly that from him." _

"_And what…"_

"_If it comes to that, I will stick with you Claude. I somehow braved through Garreg Mach with you and the Deer; a few more years of my life being wasted shouldn't be too difficult. You'll need someone to reign you in from the more free-thinking members of our team." Lorenz replied, as Claude simply gave a hearty laugh, that laugh being overshadowed by the sounds of yelling from behind the door. And the sound of a woman screeching._

"_Well...looks like we've got our work cut out for us." Claude stated, as he cracked his neck a bit. _

"_Let's do this."_

_And thus, the leader of the Leicester Alliance, one Claude von Riegan, pushed the big doors open with his two hands, as he walked straight into the mess that was the Alliance's politics__._

—

(_Later that night…)_

_As dawn turned to dusk on the port city, the arguments continued. Except they were centered towards Claude. _

"_That is improbable, Lord Riegan. If it is true that the Empire is planning to assault the Great Bridge of Myrrdin, I suspect we will be at a disadvantage staying neutral in our current condition." One of the eight people in the room stated to Claude, as he stood in the center of the parliament room. Surrounding him were 5 people who Claude recognized as the important lords of the Alliance. At least out of those that could even make it. Lorenz stood by the Alliance leader's side alongside another woman, who wore a mixture of different shades of yellow clothing-wise, a rapier on her side, sheathed. _

"_Yeah, but I would rather we don't send all our troops there. Imagine the propaganda they could bring to us if we strike first. We would be seen as the bad guys in that case." Claude argued, before one of the other lords, this one this time in quite the jester-like clothing and blond curly mustache decided to interject. _

"_And what happens then? We stay and let the Kingdom be destroyed by the main threats, Claude? I'm not surprised a lackluster individual like your…" he began, before his eyes laid on the woman from before. They bored into him, like he was staring into his personal hell. It was enough to shut him up, as Claude sighed._

"_Yeah; thanks for the useless interjection, Weathervane. Anyways, to conclude this meeting, I only say to stand strong. I'm sending some of our troops to meet up with the Kingdom at Fort Merceus. Hopefully, we'll be able to end this war quickly. And hopefully, the Empire won't recognize the Alliance's support efforts. This meeting is adjourned." _

_As the lords filed out through the big doors they came from, Lorenz and the woman turned to Claude, as he turned to them._

"_Looks like Acheron's getting a little risky regarding his attitude. I'd guess that was you who put that new dent in the wall near where Acheron's head formerly was, Commander Judith?" Lorenz asked_

"_Well, he wouldn't shut his mouth. So I simply threatened to shut it personally. Don't see a big problem with that. House Gautier's lord even agreed with me on that note." Judith stated, shrugging before turning to Claude. "Now, boy. To answer your question, no. As much as I would enjoy getting Garreg Mach back in action, I wouldn't want to risk valuable resources. Especially with what I've heard regarding the Empire moving on Myrrdin." _

_Claude for his part, said nothing. Instead, his face morphed into that of contempt. _

"_Don't look at me like that, boy. You know damn well the importance of that bridge. As much as I want to support Faerghus at this point, we just don't have the resources. Not now at least." Judith stated with a sigh, as Claude simply gave his own sigh. "Now, if there's nothing else, I have to get going. The forces for House Edmund and my own house can't command themselves." _

_With that, the Commander took her leave, leaving just Lorenz and Claude in the massive room. Once the doors were shut and Judith's footsteps were no longer heard, Lorenz turned to Claude, as he saw a familiar smirk on his face. _

"_...you're still going through with the plan, aren't you?" Lorenz asked with a quiet sigh, as Claude's smirk simply got wider. _

_After another long sigh, Lorenz proceeded to nod. _

"_Fine, Riegan. Just know I can't get you out of this one. I have my own problems regarding my father and Acheron." Lorenz stated, Claude giving a small nod. _

"_Don't worry; I'll get out in one piece. And hopefully with a new base of operations." Claude winked, as the two parted ways. _

_Although Claude had an external smirk, inside, his thoughts were of one thing. _

_Worry_.

—-

"...and that's how I somehow managed to come here." Claude ended with, as Petra simply stood there, just a little surprised.

"So the Alliance is much like the Kingdom currently?" Petra asked, Claude nodding in agreement.

"Exactly! And as for Hilda, she just wanted to revisit the old place. Something about memorabilia her and Leonie had left a while ago in some secret compartment." Claude replied, chuckling.

"So I see." Petra curtly said, before looking downstairs.

"Shall we, my lady?" He asked somewhat charmingly, as the two made their way down.

As they did, they saw Bernie simply sitting by with her bow, as Shamir and Catherine made some light talk. Dorothea and Hilda simply chuckled at one another. Probably at old gossip.

Shamir eventually noticed their arrival, as everyone looked to the two.

"Now that everyone's here, we should make a move on. Get to Garreg Mach before the wildiife becomes more predatory." Shamir stated, the group simply nodding.

"Don't worry; we actually decided on a somewhat decent plan for once." Catherine assured the group. It somewhat eased Bernie, who eventually prepared to follow them.

"March!" Catherine ordered, much to the amusement of Claude and Shamir as the group followed their way to Garreg Mach.

As they were marching, Petra lagged behind a little bit, as the Cross-Z Dragon floated its way near her.

"What do you want, Dragon?" She asked, as she noticed it latched the Build Driver on its mechanical talons. It landed in her hands, as Claude decided to follow alongside Shamir, both of them lagging behind to see what Petra and the mechanized tiny companion was doing.

"Huh...you know, I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that thing flying around me all the time. Might be stalking me in my sleep." Claude stated out of nowhere, as the Cross-Z Dragon roared at Petra.

"Hm?" She asked, noticing the log from before. The dragon seemed to offer to decode whatever Sento his from her.

"Oh? A secret, hm? What is the wise, great dragon hiding from us?" Claude jested, as Shamir simply looked a little curious herself at whatever the mysterious scientist was hiding from the group.

Petra looked to the two, then at the dragon. Afterwards, she sighed and gave a nod to the dragon.

The dragon simply took a moment, shutting its screen off. After a bit of silence, the dragon opened its screen back up, the previously encrypted part of the recent log Sento placed in became decoded. But not entirely. The second part of it was encrypted still.

Although what was on it that was decoded certainly piqued the curiosity of the group staring at it.

_Additional Notes: Hazard Trigger still missing. Same with Grease and Mad Rogue. Rhea and Professor Byleth are still missing. Seteth and Flayn moved to Fhirdiad, to my knowledge. Thankfully, Cross-Z and Build abilities are still held in my hands. Rogue's with the Adrestian Empire. Hoping to talk to him. Possibly end the war, focus on stopping Evolto from whatever he's planning._

_?_

The three were all kinds of confused.

"What is this Hazard Trigger?" Petra stated out loud. Only the three could hear her say this.

"Huh...Grease and Mad Rogue, huh? So Rogue's with Adrestia? Well…looks like our new friends might possibly even the tables a bit if that's the case." Claude murmured, referring to Petra, Dorothea and Bernie. Alongside the not-present Banjou of course.

Shamir simply stared at the last part of the hidden notes.

"_You hide a lot of things, Sento Kiryu. I hope you'd be able to answer them when the time comes. Especially if it's as dangerous as you claim." _She thought, as she noticed the group up ahead stopped. The marketplace before the actual academy laid ahead, as Catherine motioned them to the wall as the group could hear fighting going on inside the former market of the Monastery.

"...Petra, Hilda, with me. The rest of you, mind covering us from behind?" Catherine replied, as she motioned the two to come with them.

As they entered through the gates into the marketplace, they saw the bodies of who looked to be looters there, numbering at least a dozen or more. Up ahead, they could see a visible swing of a very familiar saber up ahead, as it extended to swing on a bandit, cutting him off of his life.

As the body of the looter dropped, they could recognize the figure in mostly black who was responsible for the death. His hair seemed wildly different, being that of a light sea green. His sword retracted itself, the glow the sword once had dissipating. His back was turned on the three.

"Professor?" Petra asked inquisitively, as the person in question turned around, quickly raising his unique sword at the group. Catherine raised Thunderbrand in case he accidentally lashed out assuming they were hostiles.

And thus, one former Professor and mercenary Byleth Eisner realized his students were here. And Catherine too, of course.

—

_(?, 24 hours before present time) _

_Green eyes shot open. A dark void surrounded the man, say for the sole exception of a throne sitting atop a set of stairs, sitting by its lonesome. _

"_Finally! You're awake! I swear, even after we merged, you tend to never change!" The other exception, a very angry floating little girl with hair that can only be described as an unusual blend of green, orange and white said as she went straight up in Byleth's face._

"_It's been five years, Byleth! Five! Years!" She shouted, as Byleth was startled by the screaming definition of insanity staring in his face. _

"_Five...years?" He asked with a monotone voice, as he slowly made his way up, using the sword on his side to help himself stand up and balance properly. _

"_Yes! Five years! The world has changed quite a lot since you were gone!" The floating girl replied, as Byleth looked toward her. "I happened to poke into the minds of one of your students while they were unconscious." _

"_And?" Byleth stated in one word. He wasn't really in the mood to speak as much as would in a case like this. Or question just what Sothis had done._

"_And what I found is that somehow, the hands of time have changed in ways I hadn't expected." The girl stated, as she simply stared towards him. Her face morphed from that of anger, to that of more boredness, as she floated her way around him. "Somehow, new factors that had previously not been present are here. And for once, we have nothing to do with it. It'll be rather interesting to see what comes of it." _

_As Byleth comprehended literally anything the little girl stated, she looked towards him in silence. After a small while of the two blankly staring at each other, the girl became visibly frustrated, eventually going back up in his face. _

"_What are you standing there for like a tree? Wake up!" She stated, as Byleth began being engulfed by the darkness once more. _

"_Sothis…" was all Byleth was able to weakly muddle out, before he was blinded by the void that followed_.

—

_(Near Remire, 16 hours before present day) _

_Byleth once again woke up. But unlike the void that was his mind, he instead felt splashes of water crawling across his back. _

_Then he realized he was gently being sent through a calm river downstream. _

_He briefly clutched onto his familiar sword, which still stayed sheathed but rather felt...old. Worn out, in its own way. But it was still very warm. And very much active for use._

_He swam his way out of the calm river, as he managed to reach solid grown, panting quite a bit. He looked at himself in the calm waters of the river. _

_Nothing it would seem had changed in the slightest since the last time. His hair however, was long, down to his shoulders at this point. It would be enough for him to be mistaken as a woman by some ignorant folks or kids. But that was the least of his concerns_.

"_At least I still have the Sword of the Creator." __Byleth thought, before looking up towards the academy. _

_He knew he had to check the Academy first. See if anyone was even alive there. He looked back at whatever remained of Remire Village in the distance, a subtle grim look on his face. _

_He didn't want to be reminded of what happened there. _

_He proceeded to trudge onward towards the academy, sighing as he pulled out his Sword of the Creator in case_.

—

As the much more shaken Byleth stared down his former peers, he slowly moved the Sword of the Creator away from them, slowly placing it away. Catherine kept her own sword, Thunderbrand armed to her hands. Most likely in case of anyone trying to sneak up on the group.

Petra and Hilda however looked surprised, loosening the grip on their weapons.

"Professor? We thought you died!" Hilda was the one to break the silence, as he stared at them, just as shocked as them about their vastly different looks. Minus Catherine of course; her face was less of shock and more of a smirk.

He had to question that later. For now though, he noticed additional recognizable faces. Although ones he didn't expect, as they approached behind the three.

As the other four ranged people of the group met up with the others, Byleth couldn't help but to raise his eyebrow. Half from his house during the academy days, half not. It was rather unexpected.

"Hey, Teach; why am I not surprised to see you here? It's like whatever god decided to give us a thought to be dead Professor and the powers of Cross-Z!" Claude brought up with a sense of confidence, as Byleth looked hell of confused. Obviously not showing it.

"Cross-Z? What is a Cross-Z?" He asked, as the group heard shuffling from further inside the old monastery.

"Are they?" Catherine asked out loud, before realizing exactly what they were doing.

Pushing Byleth out of the way, she stormed further in as Shamir sighed.

"Looks like we've got a battle; and here I thought we were gonna have a feast for this fortune." Claude stated, sighing alongside the mercenary.

"You and me both." Dorothea chimed in, giving a somewhat disappointed look as she readied her magic, her and Claude following suite.

Byleth turned to those remaining, that being a silent Bernadetta, Petra, Shamir and Hilda.

"We will hopefully be able to explain everything to you once everything has calmed down." Shamir replied, nodding as she looked towards the remainder of them. "I'll make sure the rest of them don't end up in some sort of trap."

And with that, she eventually ran towards Catherine and them, leaving Byleth with the other three. And the sound of more looters being lured towards the marketplace.

Byleth simply huffed as he pulled out the Sword of the Creator. The rest pulled out their own weapons, as Bernadetta nocked an arrow.

This was indeed going to be a fight.

—

As Catherine busted into the area, she could see a multitude of bandits in the abbey leading to the second floor. It was clear their leader was attempting to bust into the old archbishop's chambers. And based on the duffel bags that were glowing on some of the bandits, it was obvious that they were looting a rather specific item; the Crests.

And as a Knight of Seiros, she wouldn't allow that.

As the Knight pulled out Thunderbrand, her sword arced with electricity, as she immediately struck down an unsuspecting bandit, making her presence known to the rest of them. And they promptly did what any bandit would do.

Some immediately tried to make a run out of there, only to be shot down by arrows courtesy of an approaching Claude and Shamir. Others stayed firm, a couple of them armed with axes immediately making the stupid decision to charge right at the Knight.

"This will be the last worst decision of your lives, boys!" Catherine shouted, deftly avoiding one such swing as she used the arcing electricity plus a well time knee to the chest to electrocute the poor bandit.

She looked to the other one as it too earned the same treatment with a blast of Thoron, courtesy of Dorothea.

Of course, being too blind with rage, she marched her way forward ignoring her, as she moved to the side to avoid a blast of Fire from a Bandit, as she proceeded to allow an arrow to pierce the man fatally, courtesy of Claude. Who at that point had caught up with them. Wielding Thunderbrand, she slashed another bandit with it, before quickly switching targets and clashed with a third.

"Catherine, slow down!" Shamir commanded, nocking an arrow quickly into her Silver Bow, as she fired at a Thief attempting to stab Catherine from behind. "We're going in blind here!"

"They're looting the damn monastery, Shamir! I'm not allowing them to take what's left of Lady Rhea's away! Not now; not again!" Catherine shouted through somewhat angry, yet pained tears as she broke the guard on the bandit she was fighting, quickly kicking him to the ground before breaking his neck with a landing of a foot on it.

Catherine then noticed up ahead, someone commanding the last two, more beefy thieves armed with a Lance and Broadsword respectively.

The one behind them seemed to cower, himself only armed with a Steel Sword. Most likely their leader.

Catherine made a rush for it, as she grabbed one of the dead bandit's axe's, hurling it right at their leader. For his sake, he got out of the way, as the axe landed where his head would've been, had he not moved.

"That wench is crazy as hell! Kill them or something!" The leader attempted to shout, as the two bandits charged right in. More appeared behind him. Probably those from further within the cathedral.

"Why did I know this would happen?" Shamir mumbled to herself, as she grabbed the Silver Sword Petra gave to her, looking to Claude and Dorothea.

"You two, stay in the back. Try to give us some covering fire. I'll go stop my partner from getting overwhelmed. I have a feeling she'll need the help." Shamir replied, as she didn't await a response from either one of them, jumping right into the fray to save her fellow partner, kicking a bandit that attempted to attack Catherine through the back away from her partner.

It was clear she was not the best with a sword, as she mostly relied on a combination of simple slashes and kicking any enemy bandit coming her way. Claude attempted to help by shooting down any bandits that could've been coming her way with Failnaught, whilst Dorothea tried to lessen the health and armor of the big bandits blocking their leader's way, as Catherine charged headfirst into the fray towards the bandit leader.

"Protect me!" The bandit cowardly yelled, panicking as the charging woman proceeded to jump straight up in the air, aerially slamming her sword down on one of the bandits; specifically one that was right in the middle of trying to resist Dorothea's Thoron spell, as he got hit with both; causing him to be nothing more than charred ashes.

She turned to the second one, as the bandit lunged his Lance, it successfully denting Catherine's chestplate.

"...now you made me mad." She angrily mumbled, stabbing her own Thunderbrand sword into the bandit, while Shamir was seen slashing her last bandit right in the center of his chest with her own Silver Sword.

It just solely left the bandit leader, who, realizing that the only way out was blocked by four highly trained people, not to mention any other option would land him dead or worse, he proceeded to make the stupid decision to charge as well. With his Steel Sword.

Catherine easily was able to kill the bandit leader with a simple stab to the stomach with Thunderbrand. As she let go of the blade from his stomach, the bandit leader's body slumped to the ground unceremoniously.

"He isn't the leader." Shamir simply blurted out, the group immediately turning to the archer as she put away her silver sword.

Catherine looked confused.

"He certainly looked like it. Unless…"

_**[Steam Shot! Cobra!]**_

Shamir and Catherine both dragged Dorothea and Claude into cover as a hazy phantom of a cobra almost went past them. The sound of an explosion laid where the cobra was, leaving a hole in the wall.

Followed by clapping.

"Great work. For a couple of highly trained protectors of Lady Rhea, you certainly suck at situational awareness. And your job, if this entire place is anything to go by." Blood Stalk stated, as he laughed, the actual bandit leader following. He looked almost exactly the same as the one they stabbed. With the sole exception that he had no weapon on him.

"Wait a minute...I remember you!" Claude yelled in reference to Blood Stalk. "You were the one who tried to steal Failnaught a few years ago!"

"And the same one who supported the ransacking of the crests of the Holy Tomb years ago alongside the Empire." Catherine muttered through gritted teeth, raising the blood-stained Thunderbrand. Pallardo simply gave a tiny smirk, assuming he was safe behind the mysterious Cobra Man with advanced technology.

Shamir and Dorothea's eyes widened, as they realized something.

"Wait a minute; you're the same one who framed us!" Dorothea stated in shock, as Shamir couldn't help but stare down Blood Stalk. Then at the situation; see if there was any way out. He simply gave a bow to them.

"Guilty as charged." He stated, the four noticing multiple additional bandits coming back up. A couple low-level magic users by the looks of it in rags. Alongside typical bandit and thief-like beings, armed with swords, axes, lances. The typical expectations for being a bandit. "An honor to have a Mittlefrank Opera singer in our presence."

Dorothea winced at that, as she looked at the various different bandits surrounding them, aiming to kill.

"Pallardo, remember that little thing I told you about?" Stalk whispered, as said bandit leader took out the Phoenix Fullbottle.

"You know what to do?" Stalk asked, as Pallardo gave a confused look. Stalk then looked to the rest of the bandits.

"Knock them out. I have use for them." Stalk stated, as the bandits charged right at the four from all sides.

Unfortunately, while Claude, Dorothea and Shamir stayed together, Catherine pulled a ballsy move and charged headfirst towards Stalk and Pallardo.

"...shit." Stalk stated, as he immediately nabbed the Fullbottle from Pallardo, before slamming it back into the bandit leader's neck.

"Wh...Wha...aaa...AAAHH!" He shouted in absolute terror, as his body turned into some purple sludge.

"What in Seiros's name…" Catherine muttered, as she narrowly avoided a shot via Blood Stalk's TransSteam Gun.

"My my, if it isn't Thunder Catherine herself coming to face me in single combat...we missed our little chance back in Oche. And you have something I want." Blood Stalk stated, as he pulled out a second weapon from literally nowhere. A very strange looking sword by the looks of it. Coated in black and grey with a thin actual blade at the end. Not to mention some sort of weird handle on the side of the unusual sword coated in yellow, Blood Stalk twisting it twice.

_**[Ice Steam! Elec Steam!]**_

As the strange sword charged with electricity, so too did Catherine's Thunderbrand as she looked quite pissed off. To say the least.

"What...what have you done to these people?" She muttered, her voice shaking in anger, her hands tightly wrapped around the hilt of her sword.

"Simple...I evolved them to something better. Now, I'm sure this'll be a warm-up for when who I'm actually looking for comes along...but I'm sure you'll be a nice appetizer." Stalk stated quite sarcastically, as Catherine made a disgusted face at the statement, before the two charged right at one another.

—

_(Meanwhile…) _

As that battle began, another was reaching its end.

"Petra, behind you!" Bernadetta yelled out, as the Brigidian ducked, an arrow shot into an approaching bandit's chest. Then two more arrows also to the chest, the bandit landing dead.

Petra simply gave a nod towards Bernie, as she herself didn't realize a bandit armed with a dagger approaching the archer.

Unfortunately, that bandit's stealth was not as quiet as he thought, as he earned a brutal punch to the side, courtesy of Hilda. Who then proceeded to swing her axe to end its life.

"You alright Bernie-Bear? Can't have you die today; Dorothea would kill me!" Hilda said enthusiastically despite the grim situation they found themselves stuck in.

All three had to duck as the extended mode of the Sword of the Creator swung it's way over their heads, slashing down any enemy archers or magi-users present behind the three.

As the sword retracted itself into its normal form, the stone-faced Byleth stared at his fellow ex-students, as the three stood back up.

"Thanks, Professor!" Hilda told the group with jubilee, as she looked ahead. "We should rescue Claude and them!"

"That we should." Petra stated, as something hit her hard on her insides. A feeling of...familiarity. But a bad type. It went to the point where she keeled over, falling to the ground.

"Petra; are you okay?!" Bernadetta asked in worry, as Byleth eyed the area for any sign of any possible enemy that could be responsible for the Brigidian's sudden collapse.

She started to hear something enter her head. Sounding quite familiar.

"...Stalca….Falaci..."

It sounded muddled. Absolutely making no sense in the slightest. But somehow, she had a feeling with that voice where it was from that she remembered. But more importantly...she felt his presence. As if it was both repulsed and attracted to it. And she finally recognized it. Specifically, on how she could be the only one who understood it. It was in Brigidian after all.

"Blood Stalk." Petra whispered to herself, standing straight back up. She noticed that the Cross-Z Drgaon most likely felt it too, as it zoomed down towards the Brigidian, throwing her the Build Driver. She caught it, as the rest gave prying eyes to the Driver.

Byleth especially. The phantom of Sothis, for which only he could see, floated near him, staring at the foreign Driver.

"I seem to feel as if that thing has...familiarity to me. But yet I can't touch on where I've seen that from." Sothis blankly stated, before yawning. If an invisible spirit of a Goddess could somehow be tired.

The goddess disappeared, as the Cross-Z Dragon landed right on the Build Driver.

_**[Wake Up! Cross-Z Dragon!]**_

"You...wish for me to use this against him? If he is indeed present, dragon?" Petra asked the device. No response came out of it...yet it was obvious based on what it did that it wanted her to do so.

She latched the driver onto her waist, as she looked towards the group.

"You might want to get out of the way." She warned, as she began cranking the side of the driver.

As the setup for Cross-Z's armor formed around her, her body felt much more active. More alive. Her body entered a fighter's position, much like how she had first witnessed Banjou's transformation so long ago.

_**[Are You Ready?]**_

"What the…" Byleth started, looking quite literally shell-shocked at whatever was going on. Hilda too, looked confused. Less so, though.

"Huh...so that's what Claude meant." She stated quite vaguely, as Petra took a couple of deep breaths.

"...I am the ready!" She shouted, as the Cross-Z armor formed around her.

_**[Wake Up Burning! Get Cross-Z Dragon! Yeah!]**_

As Kamen Rider Cross-Z looked at herself in surprise that she once again was able to transform, Byleth simply looked baffled. Nothing in his life, despite everything thrown at him could prepare the Ashen Demon for whatever the hell he was witnessing.

Sothis for his part, didn't show up. But it was clear that she would've had the same thought too.

"_Probably will have to question her next time around." _Byleth thought up in his head, as he stared at his old student, now turned into a blue Draconic warrior. Kamen Rider Cross-Z.

"This...feels different than last time." She stated to herself out loud. Then Cross-Z remembered what Banjou told her much earlier.

"_You'd need a bigger Hazard Level than that. Like, 3.2 or something__."_

_Hazard Level: 3.47_

"So I see…" she said, as she looked back towards her peers. Bernie didn't look surprised; after all, she was the first beyond just her and Banjou to witness the form in action. Hilda was surprised, but strangely not as much. More curious at the form itself.

Byleth however, was a completely different story.

He was absolutely baffled by the presence. It reminded him way too much of the demonic beasts of the past.

Not to mention whatever the hell he witnessed took down Rhea. Except to somehow form armor out of a single belt…

The man with a somehow extendable bone sword was somehow perturbed by the presence of technology.

Meanwhile, Hilda inspected the armor, looking around it.

"Look, I'm no fashion expert on armor but...I'm jealous." Hilda stated, with a light wink, as Petra looked rather uncomfortable at the rather awkward situation. Considering the dead bodies and the somewhat quiet marketplace that was formerly Garreg Mach, the only sounds being that of the teeming wildlife around them and the distant sounds of screaming bandits, as they were slain.

Then a distant explosion from across the bridge was heard.

"Looks like the other half of our group is in danger." Byleth muttered in quite the obvious situation, as he ran towards where the other half of the group went.

"Ugh...Claude owes me triple for the amount of work I have to do here." Hilda mumbled jokingly, before grabbing her axe from a nearby wall, as she skipped her way after Byleth. Leaving just Bernie and Cross-Z there.

"Do you have any idea how to control that?" Bernie asked with a hint of worry present in both her voice and face.

Cross-Z stayed back, as she looked towards both the BeatCrosser sword and her hands.

It almost felt like she had done this for years in her head. She couldn't quite explain it at all, but yet she felt more experienced and relaxed in the suit now more than she had previously.

"...I think I do." Petra told Bernie with confidence, despite her feelings saying otherwise.

Bernie smiled, as she looked towards where their fellow allies had gone. And realized that they had left them.

"Hey; wait up!" Bernie yelled, lugging her Steel Bow as she gave chase towards the other two.

From there it left solely Cross-Z there. And a sole thought laid in her mind before she gave chase to rescue her comrades.

"_I hope you are doing better Banjou. I don't want to lose any more people I consider family." _

—

As the group busted into the cathedral across the bridge, they could see the scene laid out on them. Shamir was busy, literally kneeling with a visible gash across her right knee, attempting to take down as many bandits as she could. Catherine, looking worst for the wear but still clearly standing was ahead, deadlocked with Blood Stalk as the lightning from either of their blades dashed across the room, setting certain wooden objects alight and causing an overall bigger mess in the room. Bags containing artifacts and what looked to even be a few Crests laid strewn alongside their captors, dead as they desperately clutched their weapons, arrows and burn marks across their bodies. Meanwhile, Claude danced across the room with Failnaught, taking down what he could whisky on the room, while Dorothea attempted to toss whatever magic she knew to try and weaken the bandits, though didn't dare try and enforce the storm brewing between the duel that was happening on the other side of the room.

In other words, it was a really big disaster. And the four had arrived just on time, it would have seemed.

"Oh, you're late Professor; mind helping out a little?" Claude Said in an unusually serious tone, sighing as he attempted to tend to a relatively minor wound that Dorothea had concurred, most likely from the battle that happened in there. Shamir was nearby, using her Silver Bow as she knocked down yet another bandit.

"Petra...didn't anticipate that you would actually turn into that...armor?" Shamir stated in a bit of confusion, though didn't even stare at the group as she grabbed another arrow from what looked to be her and Claude's reserves. They were running low.

"Professor Shamir; you're hurt!" Bernie replied, rising to her aid.

"I'm fine, kid." Shamir bluntly told her, as she attempted to shrug off her efforts to keep her down, and more importantly stop her from trying to do anything. Bernadetta eventually built up enough confidence to actually began slowly healing her with the weakest healing spell she knew, as she added her arrows to the reserve.

Meanwhile, Cross-Z and Byleth simply looked to the downed Claude.

"Don't worry Teach; we'll be okay. Might want to help Lady Catherine though; think she's in a hell of a lot more danger than us." Claude commented, as he noticed Hilda's approach to them.

"Claude...you're hurt." Hilda stated with a tinge of sadness.

"Gah...I'm fine, Hilds. Go help Teach and them." Claude stated, trying to rub her off his back, as the sound of fierce fighting was heard ahead.

Hilda simply sighed at Claude's decision to do so. And she made it adamantly clear.

"Right Claude. But you owe me a lot for this." Hilda stated, as she rushed towards her teacher and Cross-Z.

It left Claude and a somewhat okay Dorothea, who sighed as she gave a weak, sad smile.

"She still hasn't changed much from the academy days. Same with you Claude." Dorothea stated, as Claude gave a small smile.

"Gotta keep some of your sanity in this war somehow." Claude replied, as he grabbed Failnaught off the floor, nodding as he provided additional ranged support alongside Shamir.

Which left Hilda, Byleth and Cross-Z rushing at the aid of Catherine. The two had clearly been going at it for quite a while; Blood Stalk didn't look any more exhausted than he was when first fighting the Knight.

Catherine looked a bit worse for wear. Her armor had blotches of black on her formerly pristine white armor; electricity sparked around the two, their swords in the middle of some type of clash against one another.

Cross-Z's blood began pumping. Her anger was somewhat contained, but threatened to burst out. Here stood the one responsible for the near death of one of the only people she could truly consider close to her. And on the verge of killing another protector. Maybe not of her...but of the people.

Blood Stalk seemed to notice, as he turned to them.

"Ah; MacNeary! Joyous of you to join us on this occasion!" Blood Stalk sarcastically stated in a casual manner, despite the obvious battle around them. Not to mention who he currently was fighting with.

"Wait...this is the so-called 'Blood Stalk' you mentioned?" Hilda whispered to Cross-Z, as a simple nod was seen by the Rider, as she looked towards Blood Stalk.

"Finally; was looking for some actua…" Blood Stalk began saying, before being interrupted as an extended Sword of the Creator slashed him in the chest, sending him flying a small distance and more importantly, off Catherine, who let out of a huff.

"Took you long enough." She said with a small sigh as she used Thunderbrand to support herself up, shakily succeeding.

"Retreat for now Catherine. We'll handle it from here." Byleth told her, as Catherine stared at him, blood dripping down her mouth.

"...fine". She stated after a bit of silence, making her way over to Shamir, as she nearly collapsed on the ground next to Claude and Dorothea.

Which just left the remaining three standing close-range members against Blood Stalk, as he stayed on the floor.

"Oh, you just had to interrupt me, didn't you 'Ashen Demon'? Never interrupt a man when he's speaking!" Blood Stalk shouted; wagging his sword in their direction. Byleth stayed stone-faced as ever.

"For Banjou...and for Brigid. Your reign ends here!" Cross-Z shouted with confidence, as she charged at the downed Blood Stalk, Beat-Crosser in hand ready to strike it down.

Blood Stalk noticed the bags filled with crests that the now-predominantly dead looters attempted to steal. Grabbing one, a Crest of Daphnel, he quickly slid it into the former purple sludge that was Pallardo. The Crest ignited with the ooze, as a bright light shined throughout the giant room, temporarily blinding everyone with it.

After a brief moment, a horrendous screech could be heard. Like a Hawk, except it sounded more demonic. More monstrous in its regard.

"Wh…" Cross-Z tried to say in shock, as a grey humanoid beast of some kind emerged. The symbol of Daphnel laid on its head, shining a bright gold. It's humanoid form contained mostly grey, looking like a deformed bird, beak and all replacing the mouth. The eyes looked human, it being the only actual recognizable human thing beyond its overall shape. Jagged grey wings formed across its back, almost like death itself had sprouted it.

It looked as if even Blood Stalk was surprised by the transformation.

He quickly composed himself though, slowly laughing.

This quickly garnered the attention of everyone in the room, who turned to the mysterious armored cobra. Even the few bandits remaining turned and stopped, gawking at the monster before them.

"Allow me to introduce you to Fodlan's newest creation; the FalconCrest Smash!" He shouted as if he had just come up with the name for the monstrosity on the spot.

As it cawed an ungodly caw, Cross-Z and the group couldn't help but be...well, let's be honest here, terrified of whatever Blood Stalk conjured up from the former remains of the bandit leader.

"What in Seiros's name is that abomination?" Catherine whispered as she briefly peeked out of her cover, Shamir doing a bit of the opposite and hiding behind cover.

The mercenary turned to her fellow compatriot, a look of absolute neutrality on her. But from the small amount of twitching Catherine could detect on Shamir's face, a little bit of fear rested in her.

"Well...certainly reminds me of how Miklan was back when the whole thing with Sylvain went down." Claude murmured, as he thought up something. He could hear the 'Smash' as it tore apart the few remaining bandits remaining, his eyes closing.

_A cruel yell heard in the distance. Garreg Mach was burning. He turned as he heard his comrades and the Blue Lions fight off wave after wave of Imperial soldiers. A sea of screams would be heard across the Academy._

Opening his eyes, Claude grabbed a few additional arrows and Failnaught, as he rushed out of cover.

"What the hell are you doing, Riegan?" Catherine shouted in pain as she tried to rush over, before being sent back as the pain forced her back to cover.

"Hey; stupid bird! Your chow's over here!" He shouted, the horrific bird-like Smash peering its view towards the Riegan.

It then burst into flames, much like the description of a normal Phoenix.

Claude realized how admittedly stupid his move was now.

"...shit." He responded.

"Well well...looks like this is my time to go then." Blood Stalk stated, quickly turning into his red smoke form.

The Sword of the Creator swinging through the smoke only confirmed his disappearance, as in place of one unknown humanoid figure, was literally air and remnants of red smoke.

"...huh?" Was only Byleth's thought, as an eye quickly turned to the admittedly terrified Claude, as he ran, the flaming monster chasing him down.

He threw himself over a downed statue in the massive Abbey the group were in, as he shot a charged shot of Failnaught towards the Smash.

And it went down, skirting straight onto the floor and sliding a bit of a distance.

"Huh...it was that easy?" Claude mused, as fate decided to turn against him, as some type of red energy flowed over him from the glowing symbol of its Crest, as the so-called 'Smash', made its way up.

Cross-Z for her part, decided to actually intervene here, pulling out the only Fullbottle she didn't use. The. Lock Fullbottle.

"Where'd you even get that from?" Hilda commented, clearly actually taking the clever route of not going against the flaming monstrosity head on. Byleth didn't specifically say anything, but it looked like he too was inquiring about the how.

Obviously, there was no time to think about that, considering there was a flaming bird monster fused with a Crest that was lumbering towards Claude like it wanted him for dinner.

Quickly inserting the Lock Fullbottle into the Beat Crosser, she quickly pulled on the bottom of the sword three times.

_**[Lock! Special Tune!]**_

It proceeded to emit a loud type of techno beat, forcing most to cover their ears as Cross-Z was confused, apparently immune to the effects of the sword.

"Huh." She muttered, as she quickly prepared herself to charge at the being.

_**[Mega Slash!]**_

She charged at the being, as her sword began being coated in yellow, turning itself...into a key?

Cross-Z paid no mind to whatever was happening regarding her Beat Crosser, as she slashed the monster once straight through the waist, followed by stabbing it into the creature, it being stuck to actually do anything. If the monster somehow had human emotions, it would be displaying a level of shock.

Cross-Z remembered something its former user did. Back when they dealt with the bandit group in Nuvelle.

"Maybe if I perhaps used it as a combo…" she stated, as she turned the crank on the Build Driver a little further, her foot preparing itself.

_**[Ready? Go!]**_

Her foot arced with some sort of weird blue energy, as Byleth readied his sword, putting it in its extended form as he bought the Rider time, slashing away at the Hawk creature. Shamir and Bernadetta contributed with their shots of the bows, though they had little effect, minus just turning the monster into more of a humanoid pincushion.

"...I think this is how it would work." Cross-Z told herself, as she turned around and launched a roundhouse kick, the phantom of a dragon forming on her foot.

_**[Draconic Finish!]**_

The monster was sent slamming into the wall on the other end of the Abbey, as an axe slammed into its arm, keeping it stuck in the wall. That was of course, courtesy of Hilda, who beamed at her contribution to this entire fight. This was of course, followed by a couple weak Elwind spells courtesy of Dorothea, who tried to contribute with her own magic. And finally, Byleth used his extended Sword of the Creator to stab the monster straight in the chest. He was buying time it would seem, as Claude popped up behind him, a charged, ready shot of Failnaught in hand.

"Now this is what I like to call strategy in motion!" He yelled, much to the grunting of his pink-haired ally, as he fired the charged shot straight at the Crest on its head.

It glowed brightly for a brief moment. And then...nothing.

"...huh. Didn't Sento say Smash usually expl…" Claude briefly began explaining, being interrupted by the monster indeed, giving off a brief explosion, smoke blinding and covering the group, causing some to cough.

Although it blinded all, Cross-Z was not fazed at all. If anything, she was looking towards her foot in surprise that she was able to succeed with such a maneuver.

"I do not understand still…" she whispered, as the smoke cleared, a single Pheonix Fullbottle and yet another hole in the wall being the sole remnants of the combo attack. Well, and the Beat Crosser sword, as it too flattered to the ground.

The group was quite literally in shock themselves. Byleth and Shamir obviously never showed it, but Claude and Bernadetta respectively seemed quite shocked.

"We...actually killed that nightmare?" Bernie asked with surprise and an unrecognizable tone in her voice. That of some form of optimism.

"How I lived past that...I don't think I'd want to know." Claude responded to no one as he looked at the body.

Shamir quickly went ahead and picked up the Pheonix Fullbottle, inspecting it in her hands. She twirled it around, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

"This is rather...surprising." She stated, noticing Claude give a confused look. Her thoughts veered in a different direction however.

"_Sento mentioned something about a Smash from his world. Could this be what he was mentioning? But...how were they able to then merge with a Crest? Unless…" _

Her thoughts would be interrupted by the feeling that someone was eyeing her. Turning, she realized that it was Catherine, who looked at her. She laid close to Shamir, a small smile somehow on her face.

"Catherine." Shamir meekly stated, hoping to get a response over what she wanted.

"Well, partner...that happened. I'll admit; pretty hard fight with that...thing. Could see why Mophead warned us about him beforehand." Catherine whispered, as Shamir simply nodded.

"Sento Kiryu is as mysterious as he is a help. There's more going on; even more than he most likely told us. Things feel like they're changing." Shamir stated. "Especially with making Petra this…'Kamen Rider'. Whatever that truly means."

"Yeah...but still, I'm sure Lady Rhea will most likely know about the things he said." Catherine interjected, only for Shamir to turn to her.

"If she's still alive that is. Catherine...much as optimism helps, we have to look at facts. There might be a possibility she's dead."

The Knight had nothing to say at that point, simply sighing as she laid next to the archer. Shamir sighed as well, not liking this idea, but decided to run with it anyways. They deserved a break, even for a little bit.

Meanwhile, Claude and Hilda both helped Dorothea and Bernie up, the four of them looking at each other.

"...well, I'm probably gonna have nightmares for the next few days. He stated, Bernie nodding in agreement about the bird creature that was just trying to kill them.

"I will admit...we've faced giant birds, and a black beast among most things...but that...monster certainly tops them all. To be transformed like that all due to a Crest…" Dorothea commented, a worried look on her face as she stared at the remnants of where the bird monster once laid. "And see that man...Claude, he framed us. Forced us to leave Edie and them."

"I know. Petra and Shamir caught me up on everything." Claude stated with his own worried look, following the songstress's gaze. "To think that somehow I'd be sympathizing for Edelgard a little more than I have to."

There was no comments from the Knights, but it was at least somewhat clear they were listening in.

"What was his deal anyways? Why a snake of all things? Dosen't really make sense. What, is he slithering everywhere or something like that?" Hilda asked, the group giving either confused stares or shrugs.

They were about as confused as Hilda on the reasoning behind some of this.

"Well, in that case, at least we could all rest now that THAT's over with...after rebuilding the monastery of course. Somehow." Claude said, before a loud bang could be heard from where the group had come from in the first place. Cross-Z turned towards the noise while picking up her Beat Crosser, as she pelted with purple spikes that looked like it came out of thin air.

She was sent flying across the room, slamming on the ground, as her armor broke off her, Petra struggling to get up.

"You just had to say that, didn't you Claude?" Hilda asked as she audibly grumbled.

Everyone else turned to the door as they heard a greater commotion coming from there, weapons being raised from the door.

Except from Claude and Hilda, who stood there at the door. Hilda's face switched to that of having a wide smile whilst Claude sighed, as Byleth ran back to try and check on Petra.

They would recognize those Dark Spikes from anywhere.

"Your savants have arrived!" A very big and beefy man stated as he walked, a big smile on his face. His blonde hair was messy, specialized gauntlets made for punching on his hands. Behind him came a few different people; a Orange-haired woman who clearly beamed when she spotted Byleth. Yet another archer with glasses, as he looked quite worried about the bombastic entrance the group had made.

In the middle of the group, coming after the three mentioned was what looked to be a mage. White hair, much like Edelgard before, flowed down to her shoulders. A tome laid in her hand, as she looked quite angrily towards Claude. A brief sympathetic look was seen towards Petra, probably for attacking her, before she decided to return to a look of anger towards Claude.

"...oh no."

—

_Banjou's eyes shot open. He recognized the touch of sand, the sounds of waves crashing against it. The smell of pineapple and rustling of light wind. _

_Banjou had somehow come back to Brigid. _

_As he brought himself up, he saw a young 9 year old Petra, playing on the beach. Drawing a strange symbol with one of the leaves from the palm trees nearby into the sand. _

_Banjou was curious; what could she be writing? _

"_Hey, mulberry." He stated with a smile on his face, as he kneeled down to the mulberry-haired Petra. "Whatcha writing?" _

_Petra looked up to him, beaming. _

"_There was a spirit known for possessing people. He would do ungodly acts to many. People in Brigid called him a night stalker! That he would go into people's dreams! The Spirit of the Dark!" She shouted, giving a small appearance of some fanged being. _

_He looked at the symbol. Although he couldn't tell exactly what it was, he could see what the symbol was supposed to be. His blood ran cold once he saw it. _

"_Yo." _

_A voice from nowhere, made him blink. The sunny, warm beaches of the past turned into a distant, non-visible darkness that encompassed him. The air felt thick, as he began to choke on it. He saw visibly up ahead the Petra he knew from the present, her back turned to him. He spotted the Build Driver's belt wrapped around her waist, a Silver Sword in hand. Dark purple smoke came out from the Build Driver. _

_As she slowly cranked the driver, that smoke began to surround her. Bind her. _

_What came out caused Banjou to widen his eyes. In Petra's place was a figure shrouded in pitch-black armor. Jagged edges lined the sides and the chest itself. Cross-Z's helmet laid on its top, it's 'eyes' in a coat of blue and magenta._

_It turned around, staring towards Banjou. All Banjou could see was a magenta abyss, staring longingly at its prey._

"_P...p." Banjou tried to get out, as the unknown Cross-Z former step closer. _

"_... !" _

—

Banjou's eyes actually shot open for real this time, as his body ached with ridculous amounts of pain. What he opened his eyes upon though, was much different than the fires of the western part of Adrestia. Instead, what he woke upon was what looked to be a room. He heard a small 'eep!' from the side as the pain in his body forced him back down on the bed he was laying on.

A hand helped him in that. He looked to his right side to see the source of the hand, noticing a scruffy looking man with black hair. He looked just a little worried, though his smile at least didn't make it obvious.

"Whoa! Calm down big guy; you just got back from the battlefield; wouldn't want you to overexert yourself there." The scruffy looking man stated, as he kept his hand on Banjou's chest. The man then turned to someone which was on the other side. "Marianne, you can continue. I'll try to make sure the big guy doesn't move too much."

Banjou was inclined to find out who this 'Marianne' was himself, as gave a slow turn with his head. There, he actually made noticed of someone who he would consider a living angel...if those even existed. A beaming smile laid on her face, the light from the candles placed at the nightstands near her, showing her sky blue braided hair. She looked motherly to Banjou.

Or at least, as close as he thought to the idea .

"Please, sir. Stay still and be calm. I won't hurt you." She said soothingly, enough for Banjou to be relaxed, as he laid on the bed.

"Where...am I?" He asked her.

"You're in Deidriu. The capital of the Leicester Alliance. The Knights of Seiros brought you here." Marianne replied, as she slowly placed her hands over Banjou's chest, a light green mist spreading from her hands. A healing spell, most likely.

"Where…" he began, as the scruffy man from before interjected, letting go of Banjou.

"They're fine. They went on foot to avoid detection from the Empire. Should be here in a few days." The man stated, as Banjou felt somewhat satisfied with those answers. Eventually, he was killed back to unconsciousness, as a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in." Marianne softly stated, as the door opened. Sento Kiryu walked in, a shocked look on his face as he saw the state of Banjou.

A lingering question was on his mind however, as he scanned the room.

"Balthus, Marianne...where's Professor Manuela?" Sento asked, as Balthus sighed.

"She's out again. In her room recovering. This whole war's getting to her, Kiryu." The man responded to Sento, as he looked over Banjou.

Silence reigned in the room, as he stared at Banjou. A flurry of memories quickly passed his mind. Memories he remembered from a time long before.

"How's his injuries?" Sento asked, breaking the unknown tension in the room as he turned to look at his unconcious ally.

"His outside looked relatively fine; they're healing. The inside however...I cannot describe. It's as if the pain is trying not to heal itself." Marianne responded with an unsure look, causing Sento to simply sigh.

"So I see. Balthus, would you mind if we have a word? Won't take too long." Sento asked, as he stood up and prepared to walk out the door.

Balthus looked towards Marianne.

"I will be fine on my own. He's sleeping. And the Goddess is looking down on us. Protectingus." She said confidentially.

A simple nod from Balthus, led him to walk up from the chair he was sitting, moving outside and quietly closed the door, leaving just Balthus and Sento in the hallway.

"So...Blood Stalk, huh?" Balthus whispered.

"I suspect so. He's the only one who could do that much damage to a man like Banjou." Sento stated, as Balthus looked at him.

"Same guy we fought in Abyss?"

"The same one."

Balthus gave a small look of thought, before his face morphed into that of a little frustration.

"Why exactly couldn't you have just told anyone else about this? I'd imagine sooner or later, he's gonna be on your tail. On our tail. If he's that threatening to Fodlan…"

Sento simply stared at him, as Balthus continued.

"...what we saw in Abyss. What Yuri. Constance. Hapi. What all of us witnessed down there, is threatening Fodlan, Kiryu. Look…"

He stopped for a moment, as he gave a brief moment of thought.

"The least you could do is tell Claude and Hilda. Those two are the only reason the Leicester Alliance hasn'f fractured itself at this point. And as much as I'm indebted to you for the shit that's happened for the past few years…the very least you could do is make sure that both our sides get paid their due."

Sento simply stared at him. The same actions entered his mind. Rogue and Grease's involvement in the past...and how they lost everything because of it.

No one said a word following that for a time. The two stared at one another, both in thought.

"I'm sure they got their secrets too." Sento tried to argue, as Balthus simply chuckled.

"Sento, everyone has their secrets. But you? Your secret could damn well save this entire country." Balthus emphasized, going a bit close to him.

Sento looked intimidated by Balthus's stature.

"Look, pal...you've got a kind heart and everything. But you got trust issues. And I can sympathize with that. But you need to somehow get more people in the know. I'd be trying to get as many people on my side too if I was a genius scientist with a dark secret."

"There's a war going on Balthus. You think they have enough to worry about?" Sento asked, as Balthus simply smirked.

"And we see the truth. Or at least the part that's important. If I were you, I'd want to keep your friends close. Like you do with Banjou. But save some for the rest of us, alright Sento? We're your allies. Comrades. Or at least the Ashen Wolves will be. Now, if you'll need me, Sento, I'll make sure your other friend doesn't give Edmund over there a panic attack."

With Balthus returning to the chamber involving the healer and former Cross-Z, this solely left Sento in the hallway.

"_...Sento, as much of a point that he has, even the Ashen Wolves are unaware of the whole truth. Of what truly lies ahead." _He could hear the inner devil inside him claim. Considering his former persona Takumi stood before him, in phantasmic form. "_They do not know of the sacrifice needed to do what we must do for the future of this world."_

"So why can't we trust them?" Sento mumbled to himself, as Takumi simply stared back at his present self.

"_The fates of the original Rogue and Grease will happen to them. And unlike their fates, there might not be a second chance to save them if these drag more than what's necessary." _

Sento was contentious. His mind was everywhere, his eyes darting along the dark hallway, only illuminated by moonlight.

"_As much as I can guide you, me...you must choose. But if you choose what I think you will, you will have to live with the consequences. We don't live in a world where everything will be peachy at the end of the day. Where we can expect every girl in Fodlan to swoon over us so easily; and where we can be able to truly understand everything. This is a world where change is inevitable, Sento. It's up to us to decide whether to uphold the idea or not." _

And with that, Takumi's phantom disspated, leaving a sole, forlorn and lost Sento Kiryu standing in the middle of the moonlit hallway, as thoughts raced across his mind.

And a battle over trust weighed into the complex yet fragile mind that was of a mad genius.

—

**AN: Look, I don't usually use end notes for my chapters, but if there's one question I defintley want to ask you readers; do you prefer longer chapters like this? Or shorter chapters, like the previous two? Or do you just don't care? I'm a guy who believes in ACTUAL quality over quantity, but I'd be willing to extend the chapters and try to relegate the same amount of quality as shorter chapters. Obviously, it'll take longer though. Anyhow, have a wonderful rest of your day wherever you are and see you soon. **


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